The Japan Financial Services Agency published a summary of Finance Minister Katayama’s post-Cabinet press conference, covering market developments and related policy positions. Katayama welcomed the Nikkei Stock Average temporarily exceeding JPY 60,000 as a sign of economic strength but avoided commenting on short-term fluctuations, reiterated that the government’s “responsible and proactive” fiscal policy stance is unchanged, and described the exchange rate’s move toward JPY 160 as reflecting speculative activity influenced by geopolitical and oil-market factors. On foreign exchange, he cited a Japan-US finance ministers’ joint statement that allows for “resolute and strong” measures against speculative movements and said authorities have remained in close contact, including around the holiday period, with further engagement expected around the Asian Development Bank general assembly and a later G7 meeting in Paris. On gold smuggling, he pointed to strengthened customs inspections and efforts to increase confiscations and penalties for unauthorized imports, while noting that the increase in the value of the 2025 gold export surplus from JPY 2.6 trillion to JPY 3.6 trillion largely reflects higher prices even as the scale remains a concern. He also referred to discussions in the Diet on deploying additional inspection equipment and personnel, and said there is currently no movement or topic of discussion on a currency swap line with the United States.
Japan Financial Services Agency 2026-04-28
Japan Financial Services Agency publishes Finance Minister Katayama remarks on JPY 60,000 equities, JPY 160 exchange rate moves and gold smuggling enforcement
The Japan Financial Services Agency summarized Finance Minister Katayama’s post-Cabinet press conference, where he welcomed the Nikkei Stock Average temporarily exceeding JPY 60,000, reaffirmed the government’s “responsible and proactive” fiscal stance, and attributed the yen’s move toward JPY 160 to speculative activity driven by geopolitical and oil-market factors. He cited a Japan-U.S. joint statement allowing “resolute and strong” action against speculative FX moves, noted close coordination with counterparts, and outlined tougher measures against gold smuggling amid a rise in the 2025 gold export surplus from JPY 2.6 trillion to JPY 3.6 trillion. He said discussions continue on boosting inspection capacity and that there is no movement or discussion on a U.S. currency swap line.