Japan will take 'appropriate' action against excessive yen moves, top currency diplomat says

By Takaya Yamaguchi

TOKYO, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Japan's top currency diplomat, Atsushi Mimura, said on Monday authorities will take "appropriate" action against excessive exchange-rate moves, warning ?of the chance of intervention after last week's central bank ?meeting that caused renewed yen declines.

"The recent ?foreign exchange moves were one-sided ?and sharp, and ?I'm concerned about them," he told reporters. "We'll take appropriate actions ?against excessive moves."

The remarks ?followed those by Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama late on Friday that Tokyo ?would respond appropriately to ?excessive, speculative ?moves in the yen, underscoring its concern over sharp yen falls that push up ?import prices and households' cost of living.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) raised interest rates to 0.75% from 0.5% on Friday, taking borrowing costs to levels unseen in three decades and ?narrowing ?the rate differential with the U.S. Federal Reserve. But the dollar rose as high ?as 157.67 against the Japanese yen on Friday, its strongest level in four weeks, as markets focused more on Governor Kazuo Ueda's comments at his news conference that offered few clues on the ?pace and timing of the BOJ's next rate hike.

(Reporting by Takaya Yamaguchi, additional reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama and Kaori Kaneko; ?writing by Leika Kihara; Editing by Himani Sarkar)