Eisuke Sakakibara, formerly Japan’s top currency official known as “Mr. Yen” for his efforts to influence the yen rate through verbal and actual intervention in the currency markets in 1997-1999, expects that yen will rise versus the greenback above the postwar maximum at 79.75. In his view, Japanese currency will stay this year above 80 yen per dollar. Such forecast is based on the structural weakness of the American economy.

Sakakibara notes that the US still faces a balance-sheet problem with businesses saddled with bad loans and households with excess debts. As a result, the economist doesn’t think that the current economic recovery seen in the United States is sustainable.

According to Sakakibara, the pair USD/JPY will remain in the downtrend during the medium or long term. The former official says that Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda should declare that strong currency is in Japan’s interest.

Yen reached the maximal level since April 1995 on November 1 when it advanced to 80.22 per dollar. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect yen to fall to 86 per dollar by the middle of this year ending 2011 at 89 yen per USD.



Chart. Daily USD/JPY

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