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*Dollar hit 2-month low versus yen on ratings downgrade fears
*Yosano says currency intervention not an option now
By Stanley White
TOKYO, May 22 (Reuters) - Japan is not considering intervening in currency markets right now, Japanese Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said on Friday -- remarks which helped push up the yen against the dollar amid growing worries about U.S. debt levels.
Concerns that the United States is at risk of losing its top credit rating have grown after after Standard & Poor's said it could downgrade Britain's triple-A credit rating.
The U.S., Britain and other developed countries have increased bond issuance to fund bailouts of the financial sector and stimulate their economies in the wake of the global financial crisis. "It is difficult to analyse the reasons for yen appreciation," Yosano, also economics minister, told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
"Intervening in foreign exchange markets right now is not part of our thinking."
The dollar was down 0.4 percent at 94.04 yen in choppy trade, off an earlier two month low of 93.86 yen touched after Yosano's comment.
Traders say market caution about the potential for Japan to intervene and buy dollars has increased as the primary driver behind the weakness of the greenback shifts to worries about U.S. debt levels.
They said the chances of Japan intervening in dollar/yen above 90 yen or when the Nikkei is above 9,000 are still very low but there was probably more chance than before that it could take action as the United States probably wants Japan to buy Treasuries.
Japan has not intervened in the currency market since March 2004, after a 15-month-long, 35 trillion yen selling spree aimed at preventing the currency's strength from snuffing out an economic recovery. (Additional reporting by Satomi Noguchi; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)