InsideJapan News Network

An additional fund has been granted by the Japanese government to slow down the strengthening of the yen.

The move has been made to prevent further dips in the growth of the nation's economy, BBC News reported.

Jun Azumi, minister for finance, revealed as much as 15 trillion yen (£125 billion) could be invested to ensure the currency's value does not increase.

The move has come amid figures which showed a disappointing result in the growth of the country's exports, with data revealing a slight 0.8 per cent increase in factory output.

Mr Azumi said: "The recent 75 to 80 yen range [against the dollar] could pour cold water on the Japanese economic recovery.

"We will take bold action when needed and we don't rule out taking any necessary measures," the news provider quoted.

Further to this, the government will discourage currency speculation by continuing to scrutinise the positions of foreign exchange traders.

Meanwhile, the nation's employment rate stood at lows not seen since 1987, with the seasonally adjusted number of people employed hitting just 59.4 million, Bloomberg reported.

Posted by Susan Ballion