1On September 22nd, 985, the finance ministers and central bank governors of the United States, Japan, the Federal Republic of Germany, France and the United Kingdom held a meeting in new york Plaza Hotel, and reached the agreement that the five governments should jointly intervene in the foreign exchange market and induce the orderly depreciation of the US dollar against major currencies, so as to solve the huge trade deficit of the United States. Because the agreement was signed at the Plaza Hotel, it is also called the "Plaza Agreement".
After the signing of Plaza Accord, the above five countries began to intervene in the foreign exchange market jointly, and sold a lot of dollars in the international foreign exchange market, which in turn formed a selling frenzy of market investors, leading to a continuous sharp depreciation of the dollar. 1985 in September, the US dollar fluctuated between 1 and 250 yen. Less than three months after the signing of the agreement, the US dollar quickly fell to around 1 and 200 yen, a drop of 20%.
After that, the American authorities, represented by US Treasury Secretary Baker, and financial experts, represented by fred Bergsten (then director of the American Institute for International Economics), constantly intervened verbally in the US dollar, indicating the exchange rate of the US dollar at that time.
The level is still high, and there is still room for decline. Hinted by the tough attitude of the US government, the USD/JPY continued to fall sharply, with the lowest falling to 1 to 120 JPY. In less than three years, the dollar has depreciated by 50% against the yen, which means that the yen has doubled against the dollar.
Some experts believe that the "Plaza Accord" is the chief culprit of Japan's economic downturn for more than a decade. However, some experts believe that the sharp appreciation of the yen provides a good opportunity for Japanese enterprises to go abroad and expand overseas on a large scale, and also promotes the adjustment of Japan's industrial structure, which is ultimately conducive to the healthy development of Japan's economy. Therefore, the formation of Japan's bubble economy should not be entirely attributed to the appreciation of the yen.