(Bloomberg) -- Japan’s top currency official declined to say if authorities stepped into the foreign exchange market early Thursday as Tokyo stuck to its tactic of leaving investors in the dark over its intervention strategy.

“I have nothing to say now on whether we intervened in the foreign currency market,” Masato Kanda, vice minister for international affairs, told Bloomberg News on Thursday. “We will disclose intervention data at the end of this month.” 

Read more: Yen’s Surge Stirs Talk That Japan Is in the FX Market Once Again

The yen strengthened sharply against the dollar early in the morning in Tokyo, briefly touching 153.04 from around the 157.50 mark.

The latest sharp swing in the yen follows a sudden jump on Monday. A Bloomberg analysis of central bank accounts suggests Monday’s move was likely an intervention by Tokyo worth around ¥5.5 trillion ($35.3 billion).

“From what I’ve heard from market participants, the government may have spent 5 trillion yen this time, about the same size as Monday’s operation,” said Atsushi Takeda, chief economist at Itochu Research Institute. “The change in price range also suggests that.”

Read more: BOJ Accounts Suggest Japan Intervened Monday to Support Yen

The pattern of Japanese officials declining to comment on sharp moves serves as a strategy of leaving market participants unclear over the finance ministry’s actions. A lack of immediate clarity may help keep traders on edge and make them less willing to bet against the yen even if the ministry hasn’t actually taken action. 

Officials must also assess the risk of any intervention being viewed as a failure and spurring further speculation.

Japan discloses any intervention moves at the end of each month and gives more detailed information every quarter, thereby fulfilling commitments to transparency even if it doesn’t offer clarity at the time of action. 

Japan spent around $59 billion in 2022 to prop up the yen, demonstrating its resolve to take action in markets when it sees a need.

The latest move comes after the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting overnight, at which officials decided to hold interest-rates steady. The world’s biggest bond market surged as Jerome Powell downplayed the possibility of rate hikes and the Federal Reserve said it will shrink its balance sheet at a slower pace to ease strains in money markets.

The yen has lost around 9.6% against the dollar to be the worst performing currency in Asia and the G10. The yen remains under pressure largely due to the stark gap that remains between interest rates in the US and Japan. 

With expectations of the Federal Reserve cutting rates repeatedly retreating, the yen has continued to weaken even after the Bank of Japan raised interest rates for the first time since 2007 in March.

The feeble yen, now worth less than half its value against the dollar back in 2012, is pushing up import prices and fueling inflation. That’s adding to the squeeze felt by households and companies and generating discontent with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s government. Corporate executives have become more vocal in expressing concerns about the yen’s depreciation.

The dynamics in the market are unlikely to change without the Fed edging closer to a rate cut, leaving the yen in a vulnerable position. 

“Naturally, intervention won’t have the effect of pushing up the yen sustainably,” said Takeda. “Still, it sends a message to the market that the government will step in if the yen falls beyond 155-156 yen.”

Japan needs to carefully balance its currency actions with international agreements stipulating that markets should determine exchange rates. Group of Seven agreements on forex policy allow some wiggle room for action in the case of excessive or disorderly moves that could affect the economy or financial stability.

G-7 finance ministers reaffirmed that understanding at their meeting in Washington in April. Suzuki also met Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and South Korea’s Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok in Washington. They issued a three-way statement expressing concern over the recent sharp falls in the yen and the won. 

Kanda and Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki are in Georgia this week to attend a series of international conferences including the Asian Development Bank’s annual meeting.

Some market participants expect the yen to get another jolt if US job data set for release Friday are stronger than consensus estimates.

(Updates with economist comment)

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