Finance ministers from Europe and Japan have launched a co-ordinated effort to shore up the yen, voicing concern over the recent sharp decline in a move designed to stop the Japanese currency falling any further.

After a meeting of ministers and central bank governors of the G7 in Singapore at the weekend, Sadakazu Tanigaki, the Japanese finance minister said the yen’s value should reflect Japan’s economy, which is recovering, and added that the recent drop in yen had been a “little rough”.