US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says he believes Japan’s government and central bank will take action that leads to a stronger yen, signalling a strong chance of a Bank of Japan (BOJ) interest rate hike in September.
The remarks to CNBC on Monday followed those by Bessent a day earlier, when said he expected BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda to “do the right thing” on monetary policy to combat yen declines.
“I have information that the market doesn’t have, and it’s my belief that the Japanese government and the BOJ will do the things that will lead to a stronger yen,” Bessent told CNBC in an interview during a Group of 20 finance leaders’ gathering in Asheville, North Carolina.
When asked whether that meant raising interest rates, Bessent said: “I think the market’s pricing that in now.”
The yen gained against the dollar after Bessent’s comments, which reinforced dominant market expectations the BOJ will raise rates at its next policy meeting in September.
Bessent met Ueda on Sunday and Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama on Monday, a senior US Treasury Department official told Japanese public broadcaster NHK on Monday.