TOKYO, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Japan's foreign reserve assets totaled 1.21 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of August, down by 79.58 billion dollars from a month earlier, marking the largest percentage decline on record, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
The 6.18-percent drop was driven by a decline in the market value of government bonds held in the reserves amid rising interest rates, as well as a reduction following Tokyo's record foreign exchange intervention to support the yen, according to the ministry.
Between July 30 and Aug. 26, the ministry said Japan had spent a record 15.4 trillion yen (about 98.75 billion dollars) on dollar-selling, yen-buying interventions.
Foreign reserve assets fell for a fourth consecutive month in August, posting the largest declines in both percentage and dollar terms since comparable data became available in April 2000, ministry data showed. ■
