US will do ‘whatever it takes’ to support Japan after yen intervention, Bessent says

WASHINGTON - The US will do “whatever it takes” to support Japan’s effort to stabilise the yen, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Aug 4, following last week’s joint intervention by Washington and Tokyo to buy the Japanese currency.“We will do whatever it takes to support them in a way that helps the American economy, the American taxpayer,” Bessent said, in an interview on CNBC two days after confirming the Treasury had joined Japan’s finance authorities in an intervention on July 31 to prop up the yen.Bessent said the yen’s substantial undervaluation could trigger other economic problems or competitive devaluations of other currencies, “which is unhealthy.”Prior to Bessent’s remarks, the yen had dipped to 158 to the dollar from Aug 3’s immediate post-intervention levels of about 15