The yen strengthened to ¥158.76 after Katayama spoke, having reached ¥159.45 per dollar in the morning, its weakest since July 2024. The yen strengthened to ¥158.76 after Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama spoke, having reached ¥159.45 per dollar in the morning, its weakest since July 2024. The finance minister has ramped up her language on the yen since late last year. In December she said that Japan has a “free hand” to take bold action against currency moves that are not in line with fundamentals. The finance minister spoke with her US counterpart Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier this week.

Source: The Edge Markets January 14, 2026 10:16 UTC