Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said domestic policies to lift investment, productive capacity and international competitiveness, rather than currency intervention, will provide lasting support for the yen. She said spending would be calibrated to lower Japan's debt-to-GDP ratio and bond supply would be managed accordingly. Japan's Ministry of Finance confirmed a coordinated yen-buying operation with the US Treasury, the first joint effort to support the currency since 1998, after the yen approached 164 per dollar. Bank of Japan data indicated the operation may have cost $36.58 billion, while earlier Ministry data showed 15.4 trillion yen ($97.45 billion) was spent on intervention from July 30 through Aug. 26. The yen traded at 158.37 per dollar early Thursday in New York, below its late-July high above 163 but still 7.65% weaker than a year earlier. The intervention and the Bank of Japan's September 25-basis-point rate increase helped the yen gain 3.3% against the dollar in the quarter, making it the best-performing G10 currency, though strategists said sustained recovery requires broader policy changes.