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The Japanese yen has fallen to a historic low against the Singapore dollar.
Previously: S$1 to 76.6 yen
The exchange rate on Sep. 13, 2022 hit a low of 102.7 yen to S$1.
Bank of Japan intervenes to shore up yen
On Sep. 22, it reached 102.6 yen to S$1, before recovering slightly the moment the Japanese government announced it intervened in the currency market that day to shore up the battered yen.
After intervention
It was the first time the government has done so since 1998.
In September 2020, just two years ago, S$1 fetched 76.6 yen.
Value of yen fell the past 24 months
The yen has been weakening against the Singapore dollar the past two years.
Overall, the yen has weakened by more than 23.5 per cent against the Singapore dollar in the past 24 months, in tandem with the yen weakening against the U.S. dollar.
Over the same two-year period, the yen has fallen some 24.8 per cent against the dollar -- from 105.5 yen to 142.9 yen.
The dollar even reached a fresh 24-year peak of 145.9 yen.
Even after Thursday's intervention to prop up the Japanese currency, the dollar is still up 23.2 per cent against the yen in 2022.
Value of yen expected to remain low
The Japanese central bank could hold off on hiking rates, Reuters reported, which is in contrast to central banks around the world, most notably the U.S. Federal Reserve, raising rates aggressively.
The policy divergence has weighed on the yen.
As long as those diverging paths of monetary policy are still in place, currencies of other countries will see their value remaining strong against the yen in the near future, analysts said.
“There’s absolutely no change to our stance of maintaining easy monetary policy for the time being. We won’t be raising interest rates for some time,” Bank of Japan governor Haruhiko Kuroda said, according to Reuters.
Yen likely will remain weak against Singapore dollar
Bloomberg reported that the Singapore dollar has established itself as Asia's most resilient currency against the dollar in 2022.
The bet is that the Singapore dollar will continue to strengthen if inflation forces the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to tighten its exchange rate policy again in October 2022.
MAS is expected to extend policy tightening at its October meeting to help rein in core inflation that hit a 14-year high in July.
A tightening of Singapore's exchange rate will see the Singapore dollar remain strong.
Japan on Sep. 22 announced it is reopening its borders to tourists for visa-free visits from Oct. 11.
Top photos via Google & Unsplash