Yen, not yuan, emerges as currency worry at G-20 meeting

Direct investment overseas by Japanese firms such as M&A increased by a record 13 trillion yen to 117 trillion yen and external debt also grew 29.1% to 472 trillion yen, driven by the loose monetary policy of the Japanese central bank and a weak yen - Reuters Photo.

TOKYO: China’s currency was expected to be one of the the main topics at this week’s Group of 20 meeting. Instead, Japan’s yen and monetary policy were identified as a source of concern for some officials from the world’s leading economies.

“The debate was also about Japan, to be honest -- there was some concern that we would get into a situation of competitive devaluations,” Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem said in Shanghai.