Analysts believe Japan's government and the central bank may have conducted a yen-buying intervention worth more than 3 trillion yen, or about 19 billion dollars, to stop the Japanese currency from falling.

Private think-tank The Totan Research says that's based on the Bank of Japan's statistical report on its current accounts released Friday.

The yen briefly surged more than 4 yen against the dollar to the 157 level in New York on Thursday. That followed the release of data showing that US consumer prices fell in June from the previous month.

The numbers boosted the view that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates as early as September, narrowing a gap in rates between the US and Japan. That would possibly strengthen the yen against the dollar.
Japanese Finance Minister Suzuki Shunichi has declined to comment on whether the authorities have stepped into the foreign-exchange market.

Yamasaki Tatsuo, Former Japanese Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs, says he believes the government and the BOJ conducted an unannounced intervention.

Yamasaki says prices of food and daily commodities have been rising due to the weak yen, making lives of ordinary consumers increasingly tough, so it is important for the Japanese authorities to keep sending messages that speculation-driven depreciation of the yen is undesirable.

The Japanese government has admitted that the Finance Ministry and the Bank of Japan had funneled nearly 9.8 trillion yen, or about 62 billion dollars, into the market in April and May.