Ready to respond if excess currency volatility seen

By Leika Kihara

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Japan’s top currency diplomat Masato Kanda said on Wednesday authorities were ready to take appropriate action if excessive moves were seen in the exchange-rate market.

“I won’t comment on recent currency moves. But it’s desirable for exchange rates to move stably reflecting fundamentals,” Kanda, who is vice finance minister for international affairs, told reporters on the sidelines of the G20 finance leaders’ meeting in Sao Paulo.

“We’re watching currency moves with a strong sense of urgency, and ready to respond appropriately if we see excessively volatile moves,” he said.

The yen is the worst-performing major currency this year as funds and others have traded on the huge U.S.-Japan interest rate and bond yield gap and bet that it will persist.

It has shed 6% of its value against the dollar so far this year, falling below 150.00 per dollar to within sight of its post-1990 lows around 152.00 per dollar.

Kanda is attending the G20 meeting on behalf of Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki.

He said he told the G20 that policymakers must be mindful of the risk of escalating volatility in financial markets, including currency markets.

He also said he told the G20 it was important to maintain the G20 commitment that excessive currency volatility was undesirable.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)