US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent inadvertently disclosed a plan for the United States to purchase $5bn to $10bn in Japanese yen, as revealed by a notepad photographed during a cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday. The image, captured by a Reuters photographer over Bessent's shoulder, showed a Camp David notepad with the underscored words “To Do” followed by “Buy Japanese Yen (JPY) $5-10 bil”. Bessent’s name card was visible on the conference table, positioned immediately above the notepad.
Photograph Raises Questions
The photograph was taken at 11.33am local time, and video of the televised portion of the meeting showed the notepad still clearly visible in front of Bessent when he spoke 30 minutes later to praise the president. A Treasury spokesperson did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the contents of the notepad, “or whether the treasury had intervened to help prop up the yen’s value against the dollar on Friday,” the news agency reported.
Later, the Financial Times reported that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York had sold euros to buy yen on behalf of the US Treasury Department. The yen’s depreciation, which dipped last week to its weakest level since 1986, has been driven by several factors, including rising oil prices, according to Bloomberg News.
Market Intervention Speculation
Earlier on Friday, about two hours before the note was seen, Reuters reported that the Treasury Department had notified several banks that it could intervene in the yen market that day, according to an unnamed source. Japanese authorities had already stepped in to prop up the yen earlier on Friday, triggering a substantial strengthening of the Japanese currency during early trading hours.
There appears to have been another sizeable strengthening of the yen against the dollar during the late afternoon on Friday. Data from LSEG shows the dollar dropped from about 158.9 yen at around 4.14pm ET to about 157.6 yen just before 5pm – a drop of about 0.8%.
Historical Context
The US Treasury has not intervened to prop up the yen since 2011, when it joined other G7 countries in a coordinated action after a devastating earthquake and tsunami rocked Japan. This incident raises questions about the current administration's approach to currency markets and its potential impact on global exchange rates.
