Japanese yen falls to two-week low as Prime Minister Takaichi questions rate hikes
The yen dropped on Tuesday as Prime Minister Takaichi expressed caution over rate hikes. Markets are also monitoring the impact of new U.S. import tariffs.
The Japanese
JP yen weakened on Tuesday following a report from The Mainichi Daily that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expressed reservations regarding further interest rate hikes during a meeting with Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda last week. The report, which surfaced on February 24, 2026, immediately injected uncertainty into the policy outlook for Japan and pushed Japanese government bond yields lower as investors reassessed the likelihood of imminent tightening by the central bank.
In the foreign exchange markets, the yen fell 0.83% to trade at 155.93 per dollar, marking its lowest level in nearly two weeks. This shift comes at a time when the United States
US and other global economies are closely monitoring Tokyo’s monetary trajectory. The sudden move in the Japanese government bond market reflected a cooling of expectations for the rate path that had previously seemed more certain to many analysts and traders.










