The file photo dated Apr 20, 2022 shows the Japanese yen in Tokyo, Japan. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

TOKYO — Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki on Tuesday reiterated that "appropriate" steps would be taken to deal with the yen's sharp drop versus the US dollar.

"We've seen some rapid, one-sided moves lately. The government will continue to closely monitor developments in the currency market with a sense of urgency and respond appropriately to excessive moves," Suzuki told a press briefing on the matter.

Numerous times in the previous year Japan intervened into the currency market, launching yen-buying operations using US dollars

Suzuki has said with regards to the US-dollar-yen pairing that excess volatility in foreign exchange markets is undesirable and currency moves should be based on economic fundamentals.

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Financial authorities' recent warnings about the yen's drop and hints at an intervention into the currency market to address the yen's rapid decline versus the US dollar have curbed the Japanese currency's fall somewhat.

Numerous times in the previous year Japan intervened into the currency market, launching yen-buying operations using US dollars to redress the yen's weakness, with the forays into the market following a series of similar warnings such as those issued by Suzuki recently.

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The US Federal Reserve's aggressive interest rate hike policy compared to the Bank of Japan's ultra-easy policy has seen and will likely see the continued widening of the interest rate gap between both countries, with the divergent policies a leading factor in the yen's weakness versus the US dollar.