TOKYO, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said Friday that the government is closely watching volatile movements on the currency market amid the yen's recent weakness against the U.S. dollar.
Noting that "one-sided, rapid moves" have been observed recently, Kato said in a regular news conference, "It is important for currencies to move in a stable manner reflecting economic fundamentals."
"We will closely monitor excessive fluctuations and disorderly movements in the foreign exchange market," he added.
Kato's comments came as the yen reached an eight-month low at the lower 153 level against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday.
The yen has been under pressure amid receding expectations of an imminent interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan and rising concerns about an increase in fiscal spending in Japan after the election of Sanae Takaichi as leader of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Saturday.
Takaichi, likely to become the next prime minister later this month, is known as an advocate of late premier Shinzo Abe's "Abenomics" strategy to boost the economy with aggressive spending and easy monetary policy. ■
