BOJ data hints at possible $22bn intervention on yen Thursday

TOKYO -- Money market data released by the Bank of Japan on Friday suggests that there were yen-buying interventions to the tune of $22 billion on Thursday, pointing to the latest effort by the Japanese authorities to shore up the embattled yen.

The data on the current account balance at the central bank showed that there will be a liquidity drain of 3.17 trillion yen ($20 billion) from the financial system on July 16, the first business day in Tokyo next week, in connection with transactions with the government sector, compared with an earlier forecast surplus of some 400 billion yen.