WASHINGTON, April 17 - Finance leaders from the United States, Japan and South Korea agreed to"consult closely" on foreign exchange markets in their first trilateral meeting on Wednesday, nodding to concern by Tokyo and Seoul over their currencies' recent sharp declines.
"We will also continue to consult closely on foreign exchange market developments in line with our existing G20 commitments, while acknowledging serious concerns of Japan and the Republic of Korea about the recent sharp depreciation of the Japanese yen and the Korean won," it said. Helen Given, a currency trader at Monex USA in Washington, said the agreement would lay the groundwork for intervention by Japanese authorities.
Tokyo has argued that this G20 agreement gave it freedom to intervene in the currency market to counter excessive yen moves. The trilateral gathering, attended by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki and South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok, was held on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and G20 finance leaders' meetings this week in Washington.