By Ronnie Harui
The finance ministers of Japan, South Korea and the U.S. acknowledged "serious concerns" from Tokyo and Seoul over their respective currencies' recent sharp weakness.
In a joint statement, the finance ministers said after their first trilateral meeting in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday that they will "continue to consult closely on foreign exchange market developments" in line with existing G-20 commitments.
The statement comes as the Japanese yen and the Korean won weakened sharply in recent days. This week, the greenback rose to its highest intraday levels against the yen since June 1990 and against the won since November 2022, according to FactSet. The dollar was recently 0.1% lower at 154.23 yen and 0.5% lower at 1,373.19 won on Thursday.
"This is an unusual joint statement made by these three countries and could serve to limit further weakness in these two currencies for now," Maybank analysts said in a note. The statement could, in turn, offer an anchor for other currencies in the Asian region, Maybank added.
Write to Ronnie Harui at ronnie.harui@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-18-24 0019ET
