- FX strategy head sees BOJ intervention with dollar-yen at 152
- That is unlikely to support the yen without Fed rate cuts
The yen could slide to hit 160 per dollar unless the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates this year, according to Bank of America Corp.
Any intervention from the Bank of Japan to try to prop the currency up will be ineffective until the US starts easing monetary policy, says the bank’s global head of Group-of-10 currency strategy Thanos Vamvakidis. The yen has already hit three-decade lows and is flirting with the 152 per dollar level that many say would force Japanese authorities to act.
Intervention “is very likely but it would be more like leaning against the wind,” Vamvakidis said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. He sees the yen rallying to 142 if the US central bank does go ahead with cuts, as expected by markets.
It’s a view that chimes with other strategists who anticipate any BOJ intervention to only offer brief support to the yen. The currency has already weakened beyond levels that prompted authorities to enter the market in 2022, and officials have ramped up warnin