TOKYO: Japan and the United States conducted coordinated yen-buying intervention and will not hesitate to take further action, Japan's finance ministry said on Monday (Aug 3), confirming a rare bilateral action to halt the yen's slide to fresh 40-year lows. The joint intervention was the first since 2011's coordinated action to weaken the yen following the devastating earthquake in eastern Japan. Central bank data indicated on Monday that Japan may have spent as much as US$36.58 billion buying yen during Friday's joint intervention. In the statement, Japan's finance ministry said Friday's yen-buying intervention with the US Treasury Department "countered excessive volatility and disorderly movements in the Japanese yen in recent months". "We will not hesitate conducting further coordinated intervention," Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama told reporters on Monday.