TOKYO - Japan’s Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said Sunday that the country is monitoring foreign exchange markets with an ‘extreme’ sense of urgency, in the latest warning from financial authorities regarding the yen’s fall versus the US dollar. “Japan is scrutinising foreign exchange moves with an extremely strong sense of urgency,” Suzuki said. His remarks were made following the yen dropping below the 145 level versus the US dollar and came amid mounting speculation Japan could intervene in the currency markets to redress the yen’s weakness. “The government will respond appropriately to excessive volatility,” Suzuki said, describing recent currency moves as being “rapid and one-sided”. The US Federal Reserve and other major central banks in Europe, aggressively hiking their interest rates to tame inflation compared to the Bank of Japan’s ultra-easy policy, have seen a widening interest rate gap between the countries.