We made billions of dollars to move in support of yen

NEW YORK  - the United States deployed 1.0 billion through intervention by the G7 in the currency markets to tame the yen soared after the earthquake of the Japan disaster, the Federal Reserve said Friday.

"U.S. monetary authorities intervened in the foreign exchange markets once in the first quarter, March 18, purchase of $ 1 billion against the Japanese yen," the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said in its quarterly report for the Congress of the United States.

The New York Fed confirmed the intervention to sell the yen on March 18, without disclosing its value.

The day before, the Japan and its economic allies announced that they would intervene on currency markets for the first time in ten years to calm the crisis triggered by the severe earthquake on March 11 and the tsunami and the subsequent nuclear crisis.

The pledge came after talks about emergency telephone by the Group of seven nations in response to a surge in the yen, which threatens the prospects for recovery in the Japanese economy.

The amount of U.S. intervention was evenly divided between the Federal Reserve and US Treasury, said the New York Fed.

The intervention of coordinated G7 was conducted by the foreign exchange trading desk at the Fed New York, operating in collaboration with the Japanese monetary authorities, the Central Bank European and monetary authorities of Great Britain and the CanadaHe said.

In the three months ended March 31, the dollar had depreciated 5.5% against the euro but appreciated by 2.5 percent against the Japanese yen, the New York Fed reported.

At the same time, the dollar weakened 3.7%, as measured by major currencies of the Federal Reserve Board, in part because "We, the concerns of increased economic growth" and expectated the Fed to maintain the low market interest rates, but provides for an increase in the rate of the European Central Bank.