Japan Says It Counts Three Consecutive Days Of FX Intervention As One

Earlier today we joked when, after the third intervention attempt by Japan’s MOF/BOJ, the yen promptly sold off again as Japanese officials continued to sink billions of dollars into what has become bottomless monetary pit (ignoring for a second the lunacy of spending dollars to strengthen your currency while at the same time printing yet), one which gets bigger every day the BOJ refuses to simply raise interest rates. 

BOJ interventions working out great pic.twitter.com/qsD2f4gTnw

— zerohedge (@zerohedge) May 4, 2026

So perhaps realizing the futility of their now daily interventions, which are taking place precisely at a time that is meant to to take advantage of the low domestic FX liquidity thanks to the Golden Week holiday, a Japanese Finance Ministry official on Monday cited a rule saying that three days of intervention count as a single operation. Even if Japan is on a public holiday, intervention can still be counted if global markets are open, the Finance Ministry person said. Based on this, May 4 would be considered the third consecutive day from April 30, the official added.

Japan was referring to International Monetary Fund fine print, which considers three consecutive business days of exchange-market intervention as a single episode, the official told reporters. The comments came after the yen rose following a reported intervention on Thursday, yet fell after each of the subsequent two interventions on Friday and Monday.

Furthermore, the IMF rules state that up to three such episodes within six months is consistent with a free-floating exchange rate regime, said the official, who accompanied Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama to an international conference in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. But if Japan’s interventions exceed three such occasions, the IMF tends to classify it as a floating – rather than free-floating – exchange-rate regime.

The comments came as the yen strengthened for three straight days, fueling speculation that authorities intervened in the currency market on consecutive business days, as they did in 2024 (See “Japan’s Double Yen Intervention, As Seen Through 10 Charts From Goldman’s FX Desk“).

Japan intervened on Thursday after the yen weakened to 160.72 against the dollar, before surging to 155 and then resuming its slide. A Bloomberg analysis suggested authorities spent about $34.5 billion to support the currency on Thursday. The likely spent another $20 billion in the ensuing two interventions. 

Katayama reiterated on Monday that the government stands ready to take bold action against speculative currency moves, in line with a US-Japan agreement reached last year. Such action typically refers to currency intervention to support the yen.