This photo illustration shows Japanese 10,000 yen and 100 US dollar banknotes in Tokyo on April 13, 2022. (PHOTO / AFP)

TOKYO - Japan's Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said Friday that the country is monitoring foreign exchange markets with an "extreme" sense of urgency, in the latest warning from financial authorities regarding the yen's fall versus the US dollar.

"Japan is scrutinizing foreign exchange moves with an extremely strong sense of urgency," Suzuki said.

His remarks were made following the yen dropping below the 145 level versus the US dollar and came amid mounting speculation Japan could intervene in the currency markets to redress the yen's weakness.

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"The government will respond appropriately to excessive volatility," Suzuki said, describing recent currency moves as being "rapid and one-sided."

The US Federal Reserve and other major central banks in Europe, aggressively hiking their interest rates to tame inflation compared to the Bank of Japan's ultra-easy policy, have seen a widening interest rate gap between the countries.

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Numerous times in the previous year, the last being in October, Japan intervened in the currency market, launching yen-buying operations using US dollars to redress the yen's weakness, with the forays into the market following a series of similar warnings such as those issued by financial authorities here recently.