Japan’s Kato: Monetary policy decision is up to BoJ

Japan's Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato, when asked about the US Treasury report on exchange rate, said that the monetary policy decision is up to the Bank of Japan.

The US Treasury Department said on Thursday that the BoJ should continue to proceed with monetary tightening, arguing that doing so would support a normalization of the yen’s weakness and contribute to a more balanced trade relationship.

Market Reaction:

The USD/JPY pair sticks to its modest intraday gains for the second straight day and currently trades around the 143.65-143.70 region, though it remains confined in the weekly range ahead of the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) report.