Japan's foreign currency reserves decreased to $994.9 billion by the end of August, falling from $1.09 trillion in July. This monthly drawdown of nearly $100 billion brought the reserves below the $1 trillion threshold for the first time in recent memory.
The Ministry of Finance reported record yen-buying interventions totaling ¥15.3993 trillion, or approximately $96.5 billion, between July 30 and August 26. This represents the largest monthly intervention ever recorded by the Japanese authorities.
To finance these operations, Japan liquidated foreign securities, primarily US Treasuries, with holdings dropping by $87.8 billion month-over-month by the end of August. Total official reserve assets, including gold and IMF positions, were approximately $1.287 trillion at the end of July.
Cumulative interventions in 2026 have exceeded ¥27 trillion, breaking all previous annual records. On July 31, the US and Japan conducted a coordinated yen-buying intervention, marking the first joint operation of this kind in approximately 28 years, since the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s.
