Yen currency exchange intervention 'important'

The Japanese government's intervention in the currency exchange markets has been heralded as an important change in attitude.

Last week (September 15th), the government sold off an estimated 1.8 trillion yen (£13.42 billion) in a bid to increase money supply in order to counter inflation and help the country's exporters.

While analysts have suggested that the move is unlikely to have a prolonged impact, they have noted that it signals an important shift in the government's attitude.

Shogo Maeda, head of Japanese equities at Schroders, told the Financial Times: "This won't necessarily work in changing exchange rates in the long term, but it does mark an important change in attitude."

The yen was knocked from a 15-year high against the US dollar following the sale.

This morning (September 20th), sterling bought 133.90 yen at 09:00 BST.

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Posted by Eleanor Ward