Noda Says `Difficult' for Japan to Win Coordination on Yen Intervention

Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda said it would be “difficult” to gain support for international coordination to halt the yen’s gains, signaling Japan may intervene alone if necessary.

“This is about what options we have on the assumption coordination would be difficult,” Noda said on a TV Tokyo program today. “Our statements on taking ‘bold action when necessary’ cover everything.”

The yen’s advance to a 15-year high against the dollar threatens earnings at companies from Sony Corp. to Toyota Motor Corp. Sony Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer said this week that the currency’s appreciation is a “huge handicap for us.”

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said last week the government is “ready when necessary to take bold measures” in the currency market. Ichiro Ozawa, who has challenged Kan for the leadership of their ruling Democratic Party of Japan, said this week he would take “every measure,” including intervention, to keep the yen from rising.

“What they meant was the same,” Noda said in Tokyo. “Ultimately, it’s a matter of deciding whether or not to intervene.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Keiko Ujikane in Tokyo at kujikane@bloomberg.net

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