Word: yen
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...relatively inexpensive in the U.S., and Americans seemed to have an insatiable appetite for Toyotas, Sonys and Nikons. But now that the dollar is diving, the prices of Japan's goods are suddenly on the rise in the U.S. As the dollar hit a record postwar low of 174.60 yen last week, Japanese manufacturers fretted that their exports would be devastated, and rival American businessmen broke into broad smiles...
...Tokyo, Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone urged his Cabinet to devise emergency measures to aid the worst-hit Japanese firms and pledged to do more to calm down the dollar-yen exchange rate. On the following day, the Bank of Japan briefly intervened in the foreign-exchange markets, buying dollars to support the value of the U.S. currency. But no one could be sure that the bank would succeed, and a sense of helplessness came over many Japanese executives. Said an official of NEC, a leading Japanese electronics manufacturer: "It is like groping our way in the dark. All we want...
...Group of Five plan was a success: the dollar has fallen against all major currencies since the September meeting. Most important, it has declined by 27% against the yen, and the protectionist pressures in Congress have declined. But the Group of Five now seems to be in no hurry to stop what it started. The central banks, with the exception of the Bank of Japan, are making no attempt to discourage private foreign-exchange traders from continuing to push the dollar down...
That means mounting trouble for Japanese companies that depend upon export sales, since they must charge customers more dollars to receive the same number of yen. In a report last week, the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry revealed that manufacturers of cars, computers, semiconductors, cameras, color television sets and videocassette recorders were planning to raise prices further in the U.S., adding to recent increases. Toyota, the largest Japanese automaker, has marked up its price tags by an average of 7% since the beginning of the year. A Toyota Cressida now costs $17,480, up 11.4% from...
Nonetheless, some U.S. trading partners are afraid that the dollar has fallen too far, too fast. Japanese firms are considering a second round of price increases because of the rising yen, which has gained 25% against the dollar in the past six months. Says Bunroku Yoshino, president of Tokyo's Institute for International Economic Studies: "Fundamentally, Japan can stand a pretty sharp strengthening of the yen. But the suddenness of the rise is difficult to adjust to. If we have more time to adjust, then it might be all right...