Japanese Yen is Projected to Weaken to New Multiyear Lows

Japanese yen may weaken to levels last seen more than 30 years ago if the Bank of Japan sticks to its dovish stance, according to forecasters at Goldman Sachs Group (GS).

Over the next six months the yen is projected to reach 155 per dollar — the weakest since June 1990 — according to the bank’s strategists. They had previously expected the yen to trade to 135.

The yen fell to 146.6 per dollar after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell signaled the possibility of further domestic rate hikes, which could widen the wide gap between U.S. and Japanese borrowing costs.

On Friday August 25, the yen dropped to its weakest level against USD since November last year, adding to pressure on the Bank of Japan to tighten its ultra-loose monetary policy and prop up the volatile currency. Today, on August 29, Japanese currency keeps hovering around new antirecords reaching 147.22 against the dollar.