The yen extended its unbroken slide into a 13th day on Tuesday, moving past ¥128 against the dollar and ratcheting up the stakes at next week’s Bank of Japan policy meeting as officials weigh the continuation of the country’s ultra-loose monetary stance.
The sharp slump in the yen to a new 20-year low came as a Tokyo Shoko Research survey of nearly 5,400 companies across the spectrum of Japanese industry found that approximately 40 per cent said that yen weakness had a “negative impact” on their business. Just 29 per cent had taken that view in December when the yen was at ¥113 against the dollar.
The highest proportion of those hurt by the stronger yen was in the clothing and textile industries, followed by food and furniture equipment manufacturers. Tadashi Yanai, chief executive of Asia’s largest clothing retailer Fast Retailing said in a press conference last week that the weak yen had “no merit whatsoever”, arguing it only brought disadvantages to the Japanese economy.