Yen falls in Asia following Japanese PM's remarks

The dollar firmed to 90.62 yen in Tokyo late afternoon trade from 90.48 in New York late Thursday. The euro jumped to 124.21 yen from 123.77, and it rose to 1.3702 dollars from 1.3678.

Hatoyama told a morning parliamentary session that the yen had risen despite “the fact that Japan's economy and industries aren't necessarily strong.”

“I think we need to take firm steps against such yen strength,” he said, adding that there is a need to “politically cooperate on the world stage.”

The prime minister rarely steps forward to comment on foreign exchange, and the move seemed to be an about-face from his position in January that the government should not in principle discuss currency movements.

The yen slipped after the remarks, which came as the government is adding pressure on the Bank of Japan to take more action to shore up the economy and combat deflation ahead of its policy meeting next week.

Against other regional currencies the dollar fell to 1,128.20 South Korean won from 1,134.90, to 1.3961 Singapore dollars from 1.3988, to 9,159 Indonesian rupiah from 9,195 and to 31.75 Taiwan dollars from 31.80. The greenback was stable at 45.67 Philippine pesos and at 32.66 Thai baht.

There is speculation that when it meets the BoJ will extend its loan facility program started in December to ensure the flow of credit through the economy.

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