For the last few months, several American trade lobbyists have publicly accused Japan of calculated intervention in forex markets aimed at holding down the value of the Japanese Yen. Japan’s repeated declaration that these claims were groundless and untrue was born out recently by Japan’s Ministry of Finance. Data indicates that from January 2003 until April 2004, Japan spent almost $350 Billion USD to slow the appreciation of the Yen by purchasing USD on the open market. Since April 2004, however, Japan has refrained from any intervention, which means its current value (to the chagrin of American trade groups) reflects market fundamentals. AFX News Limited reports:

The absence of dollar-buying and yen-selling via the Bank of Japan was attributed to the orderly reversal of the dollar’s weakness, reflecting the stronger fundamentals of the US economy compared with that of Japan.

Read More: Japan says it kept out of currency markets in 2005