A note seen during a US cabinet meeting has raised questions over whether the US Treasury was considering buying between $5 billion and $10 billion worth of Japanese yen.
A Reuters photograph taken during President Donald Trump’s cabinet meeting at Camp David showed US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s notepad with a handwritten “To Do” list that included the words: “Buy Japanese Yen (JPY) $5-10 bil.”
Bessent note draws attention
The photograph was taken during the public portion of the meeting at 11:33 ET (1533 GMT), with Bessent’s name card visible above the notepad on the conference table.
The note contained no other details apart from the listed task.
A Treasury spokesperson did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the contents of the note or whether the Treasury had intervened in the foreign exchange market to support the yen against the US dollar.
Reports of possible yen intervention
Earlier on Friday morning, about two hours before the photograph was taken, Reuters reported that the Treasury had informed several banks that it might intervene in the yen market, citing a source familiar with the matter.
Japanese authorities had already stepped into the market earlier on Friday in Tokyo to support the yen, triggering a significant strengthening of the currency during morning trading.
The yen appeared to strengthen further against the dollar later in the afternoon. LSEG data showed the dollar falling from about 158.9 yen at around 4:14pm (2014 GMT) to about 157.6 yen shortly before 5pm (2100 GMT), a decline of about 0.8%.
US Treasury’s previous intervention
The US Treasury has not intervened to support the yen since 2011, when it joined other Group of Seven countries in coordinated action following a devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
The latest development has drawn attention to possible US involvement in the yen market, although the Treasury has not confirmed whether any intervention took place.
