U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pressed Japan to tighten fiscal policy and raise interest rates before supporting a coordinated yen-buying intervention in late July, according to three people familiar with the discussions. Bessent’s June 22 call with Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama followed a May meeting in Japan where he stressed the need for higher Bank of Japan (BOJ) rates and warned that expansive spending undermined efforts to contain inflation. Japan sought U.S. help as the yen weakened and officials feared imported inflation would hurt Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi with voters. The intervention briefly strengthened the yen, but it soon weakened again. The BOJ later raised rates to a three-decade high, although the move was viewed as less convincing by markets and was followed by a sharp overnight decline in the yen. Bessent renewed calls for higher Japanese rates and fiscal tightening at a G20 finance leaders’ gathering on August 31-September 1, while Japan’s large spending plans and bond-market risks remained a source of tension.