IMF says yen falls driven by fundamentals, urges BOJ to keep easy policy

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpTOKYO Reuters – The yen‘s recent declines are driven by fundamentals and would be no reason for Japan to change economic policy, including the central bank’s ultralow interest rates, a senior International Monetary Fund IMF official said.p

p“What we‘re seeing so far on the yen is driven by fundamentals,” Sanjaya Panth, deputy director of the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department, told Reuters in an interview late on Wednesday.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

p“Economic policymaking should continue to look at fundamentals. We don‘t see any reason to change economic policy because what’s happening right now reflects fundamentals.”p

pThe yen has fallen to twodecade lows against the dollar as the Bank of Japan BOJ continued to defend its ultralow rate policy in contrast with heightening chances of aggressive rate hikes by the U.S. Federal Reserve.p

p“We do not see disorderly market conditions right now in the foreign exchange market. Its been driven by fundamentals,” Panth said, when asked whether yenbuying currency intervention by Japanese authorities would be justified.p

p“Our general approach is that as long as markets arent disorderly, the current policy stance is appropriate,” he said.p

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pp Reporting by Leika Kihara Editing by Stephen Coatesp

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