U.S. Treasury chief’s ‘whatever-it-takes’ vow to help the yen masks limited firepower

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.”