Japan denies report citing Bessent's push for strong yen

By Makiko Yamazaki

TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan's top currency diplomat on Monday denied a media report that U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had told his Japanese counterpart at a bilateral meeting in Washington that a weak dollar and a strong yen are desirable.

"As we have said, the U.S. side did not touch upon exchange-rate targets in the finance minister talks," Atsushi Mimura, Japan's vice finance minister for international affairs, told reporters.

Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and Bessent had their first face-to-face talks on Thursday on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington.

The Yomiuri newspaper reported on Friday evening that Bessent told Kato his preference for a weak dollar and strong yen, without citing sources.

On Saturday, Kato also denied the Yomiuri report on the X social media platform, repeating that they did not discuss exchange-rate targets or a framework to manage yen rates.

In the press conference, Kato was tight-lipped on the details of the 50-minute meeting with Bessent, declining to comment on whether the U.S. made any specific requests to Japan.

President Donald Trump's focus on addressing the U.S. trade deficit and his past remarks accusing Japan of intentionally maintaining a weak yen, have fueled market expectations that Tokyo will face pressure to strengthen the yen's value against the dollar and give U.S. manufacturers a competitive advantage.

Bessent said in a X post on Saturday that he had "very constructive talks" with Kato.

"I was pleased to follow up on previous reciprocal trade discussions between the United States and Japan, as well as to discuss matters pertaining to exchange rates," he said.

(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Shri Navaratnam)

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