U.S. Treasury chief’s ‘whatever it takes’ vow to help yen masks limited firepower
Japan's currency slid as much as 1% Monday to past ¥159 per dollar, wiping out half the rally triggered by the July 31 U.S.-Japan intervention.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks to members of the media at the White House in Washington on July 30. | REUTERS
Aug 11, 2026
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s suggestion of a no-limits approach toward helping Japan rescue the yen risks getting called out by market participants flagging his limited firepower to do the job.
Japan’s currency slid as much as 1% Monday to past ¥159 per dollar, wiping out half the rally triggered by the July 31 U.S.-Japan intervention. The exercise, the first coordinated effort since 1998, had lifted the currency near ¥155 before the retreat resumed.
In the wake of that unusual operation, Bessent said “we will do whatever it takes to support them in a way that helps the American economy, the American taxpayer, stabilizes the global economy.”
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