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A foreign exchange intervention in an era of restraint

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Abstract

The Japanese yen appreciated strongly and rapidly against other major currencies in the wake of the massive March 11, 2011, Tohoku earthquake. High volatility and disorder in financial markets prompted the G-7 authorities to jointly intervene to weaken the yen. This episode resembled the two most recent G-7 coordinated interventions: the June 1998 effort to strengthen the yen and the September 2000 effort to strengthen the euro. Exchange rates reacted strongly and quickly to these three interventions, moving 3 to 4 percent in the desired direction within 30 minutes of the announcement and exhibiting lower volatility in the following days. G-7 authorities have used intervention very sparingly since 1995, yet the March 2011 policy action is a reminder that it can be used to calm markets and move the exchange rate in the desired direction. Intervention has become much less common but more successful.

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  • Christopher J. Neely, 2011. "A foreign exchange intervention in an era of restraint," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 93(Sep), pages 303-324.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedlrv:y:2011:i:sep:p:303-324:n:v.93no.5
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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Foreign exchange intervention
      by ? in FRED blog on 2015-11-19 20:00:36
    2. Just say no to exchange rate intervention
      by Steve Cecchetti and Kim Schoenholtz in Money, Banking and Financial Markets on 2019-08-05 12:19:24

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    4. Engel, Charles, 2014. "Exchange Rates and Interest Parity," Handbook of International Economics, in: Gopinath, G. & Helpman, . & Rogoff, K. (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 453-522, Elsevier.
    5. Michael D. Bordo & Owen F. Humpage & Anna J. Schwartz, 2015. "Epilogue: Foreign-Exchange-Market Operations in the Twenty-First Century," NBER Chapters, in: Strained Relations: US Foreign-Exchange Operations and Monetary Policy in the Twentieth Century, pages 345-363, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    8. Nakano, Shuhei & Hirata, Yoshito & Iwayama, Koji & Aihara, Kazuyuki, 2015. "Intra-day response of foreign exchange markets after the Tohoku-Oki earthquake," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 419(C), pages 203-214.
    9. Ito, Takatoshi & Yabu, Tomoyoshi, 2020. "Japanese Foreign Exchange Interventions, 1971-2018: Estimating a Reaction Function Using the Best Proxy," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    10. Itamar Caspi & Amit Friedman & Sigal Ribon, 2022. "The Immediate Impact and Persistent Effect of FX Purchases on the Exchange Rate," International Journal of Central Banking, International Journal of Central Banking, vol. 18(5), pages 1-31, December.
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    14. Takaoka, Sumiko, 2018. "Convenience yield on government bonds and unconventional monetary policy in Japanese corporate bond spreads," MPRA Paper 86418, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Chang, Mei-Ching & Suardi, Sandy & Chang, Yuanchen, 2017. "Foreign exchange intervention in Asian countries: What determine the odds of success during the credit crisis?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 370-390.
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