The Japanese yen hit yet another historic low of 110.7 yen against the Singapore dollar on Oct. 31, 2023.
It previously reached 109.4 yen per Singapore dollar in September.
The yen has been weakening since it briefly strengthened in July to 104 per Singapore dollar.
Screenshot via Google
In addition, the yen also fell to 151.74 yen per U.S. dollar on Oct. 31, according to Reuters.
Fall followed a tweak by Bank of Japan to its policy
According to Nikkei Asia, Japan has continued to maintain negative interest rates in a bid to bring down the country's inflation rate to two per cent.
The widening interest rate gap between the U.S. and Japan is a major factor driving the yen's weakness.
The yen's Oct. 31 fall followed the Bank of Japan's announcement that it would allow 10-year government bond yields to rise above the ceiling of one per cent.
In response to the fall, the top currency official at Japan's Finance Ministry, Masato Kanda, said "speculation" is the biggest factor in the currency's "recent moves", The Japan Times reported.
Kanda also said the Japanese government is "on standby" when asked about intervention to prop up the yen.
Thus far, the yen has declined by about 13 per cent against the U.S. dollar since the start of 2023.
Previously, on Oct. 21, 2022, Japan spent US$42.8 billion (S$58.3 billion) to prop up the yen after it reached a 32-year-low of 151.94 per U.S. dollar.
At that time, the yen was 104 per Singapore dollar.
Top left screenshot via Google, right photo via Unsplash/jun rong loo