Japan's Foreign Reserve Assets See Record August Decline Following Market Interventions
4 sources across 2 countries · Japan · United Kingdom
Who reported this
- Asahi Shimbun
- Kyodo News
- The Japan Times
- Reuters
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
- A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.
Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.
Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.
The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.
Japan's foreign reserve assets fell by 6.18 percent in August, dropping $79.58 billion to a total of $1.21 trillion. According to the Finance Ministry, this represents the largest percentage decline on record since comparable data became available in April 2000. The decrease marks the fourth consecutive month of decline for the reserves.
Officials stated the drop was primarily caused by foreign exchange interventions conducted between July 30 and August 26, as well as a decline in the market value of government bonds held in reserves due to rising interest rates. Japan spent a record 15.4 trillion yen, or approximately $96 billion, on dollar selling and yen buying during that period. These interventions were coordinated with the United States on July 31.
Specific asset changes include a record 9.5 percent contraction in securities holdings to $839.56 billion. Deposits fell 4.2 percent to $155.42 billion, while gold holdings increased by 13.3 percent to $124.1 billion.
How each side framed it
- Centre-left
- This outlet framed the event as a direct reflection of the currency intervention.
- Centre
- These outlets focused on the statistical record of the decline and the specific financial mechanisms of the intervention.
Sources
- Centre-left Asahi Shimbun: Foreign exchange reserves at end of August fell 6.2%; decrease rate largest reflecting currency intervention
- Centre Kyodo News: Japan foreign reserve assets fall by record 6% after interventions
- Centre Reuters: Japan's August foreign reserves post largest-ever drop after record intervention - Reuters
- Centre The Japan Times: Japan likely sold Treasurys to fund record yen intervention
100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.