The Ministry of Finance sold foreign assets worth ¥11.73 trillion ($73.4 billion) to fund yen-buying interventions through late May. In May alone, Japan's foreign securities holdings decreased by $75.6 billion, marking the largest single-month decline on record for the country.
Total foreign reserves fell by $77.1 billion, or 5.6%, reaching $1.306 trillion. Within this portfolio, foreign securities decreased to $931.7 billion. These actions were taken as the yen approached 40-year lows against the dollar.
Japan continues to be the largest foreign holder of US Treasuries, with estimated holdings between $1.1 trillion and $1.24 trillion. Analysts estimate that approximately 70% of Japan's reserves are held in US government debt.
In late July and early August, Tokyo and Washington carried out their first coordinated yen-buying intervention since 2011. To maintain liquidity without selling bonds on the open market, Japanese authorities used the Federal Reserve's FIMA repo facility, pledging Treasury collateral for dollars.
