MOSCOW, September 8 (RIA Novosti) – The Japanese yen has reached its lowest level against the dollar in almost six years, as reports from Japan show a decrease in business spending, Bloomberg reported Monday.
“The collapse of Japan’s previously large current-account surplus is the main medium-term driver behind a weaker yen,” Bloomberg quoted a currency strategist from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia as saying.
“The larger fall in business spending is particularly disappointing,” the expert added.
The yet stood at 105.13 to the dollar at 06:19 GMT Monday after falling to 105.71 on September 5, its weakest level since October 2008.
According to Japan’s Cabinet Office, the country’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 7.1 percent in the second quarter. Bloomberg forecast that the decrease would be 7 percent. Business spending dropped by 5.1 percent and the adjusted current-account balance narrowed to 99.3 billion yen ($945 million) in July from 125.6 billion yen the previous month.
Meanwhile, according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes that track 10 developed nations' currencies, the euro has dropped 2 percent in the past month, while the dollar strengthened by 2 percent.
