Japan Finance Minister says no change in FX policy after US report

TOKYO  – Japan’s currency policy won’t immediately change after the United States removed the country from its monitoring list, Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Tuesday, noting that the move came in coordination with with Washington.

“As for currency policy, we’ll keep close communications with the United States and other countries,” Suzuki told reporters. “The fact that Japan was removed from the list doesn’t immediately mean that we would respond in a different way from before or there’s any impact.”

The U.S. Treasury on Friday said it found that no major U.S. trading partners had manipulated their currencies for an export advantage, adding it ended “enhanced analysis” for Switzerland after the country met one of three manipulation criteria.

In its semi-annual currency report, the Treasury said Switzerland remains on a “monitoring list” for close attention to foreign exchange and economic policies, along with six other trading partners: China, Taiwan, South Korea, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore.