Yen slides past 160 per dollar again as short sellers step up pressure, raising 1997-style crisis fears

The yen has moved back above 160 to the US dollar, nearing a level that could trigger fresh intervention after a major government operation about a month earlier. Japan holds more than US$1.3 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, but repeated interventions would become costlier and less effective. The author argues the yen’s fundamentals are weakening as Japan’s high debt limits rate hikes and its trade position deteriorates amid higher energy import costs and rising defence spending, increasing near-term depreciation risks.