Japan’s Finance Ministry (MOF) on Thursday warned of a fake account for its top currency diplomat Masato Kanda on Social Media X, formerly known as Twitter, as markets fear currency interference within a month low of the yen.
In a rare English-language post on X, the ministry said “Please do not follow impersonated accounts and/or comment on posts”, saying such an X account did not allegedly belong to Kanda or his staff.
“The MOF is currently requesting that X (formerly Twitter) suspend the impersonated account. Thank you for your cooperation”, it said on its official account.
The account, named “Masato Kanda” and with the user ID “@Jgghkj_,” appears to have been created in March and has only made four posts to date, including three photos of Kanda posted on March 1. The last post was made at 3:56 pm (0656 GMT), citing Kanda’s recent trip to Ukraine.
Kanda was in Ukraine on Wednesday to explain Japan’s support for the country, the MOF announced.
The fake account, which was followed by about 5,000 users and followed by more than 550, did not comment on the yen or financial markets.
Kanda, Japan’s vice finance minister for international affairs, a central figure in the country’s efforts to stem the yen’s sharp decline since last year, oversaw a record yen-buying, dollar-selling program late last year.
Ahead of the Bank of Japan’s latest policy meeting on July 27-28, Kanda made rare comments about the scope for BOJ policy changes, while warning markets that the authority would consider all options to address additional yen volatility.
The BOJ surprised markets with a tweak by changing its bond yield control program, allowing interest rates to rise more freely.
The yen weakened to 143.89 against the USD on Thursday, its lowest since July 7, as the BOJ announced emergency bond purchases to check a rise in 10-year bond yields.
Markets are closely watching MOF’s next moves as the yen is back near 145 per USD, a level that triggered Japan’s first yen-buying intervention since last September 1998.
