TOKYO, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Japan's foreign reserve assets in May fell 5.6 percent from the previous month, marking the largest monthly decline on record, the Finance Ministry said Friday.
Data released by the ministry showed that official reserve assets stood at 1.31 trillion U.S. dollars at the end of May, down 77.11 billion dollars from the end of April, falling by the largest margins in both percentage and volume terms since comparable data became available in April 2000.
Earlier ministry data on currency market interventions covering the period from April 28 to May 27 showed that Japanese authorities spent a record 11.73 trillion yen (about 73 billion dollars) to stem the yen's slide.
The ministry did not disclose details of transactions related to currency interventions, but it is likely to have sold some foreign assets to secure U.S. dollars for the yen-buying operations, Kyodo News said.
The currency movements were volatile on April 30, when the yen surged to the 155 zone from the upper 160 range. The yen then weakened, but on May 1, 4, and 6, it gained rapidly from the 157 zone to the 155 range, fueling views that the authorities again stepped in. ■