Finance chiefs from the Group of Seven leading nations on Monday issued an emergency statement warning investors against pushing up the Japanese yen too much.

In the three-sentence statement, G-7 finance ministers and central bank Governors singled out the yen, saying its recent “excessive volatility” threatens the global economy and financial system. “We continue to monitor markets closely, and cooperate as appropriate,” the statement said.

The yen’s rise has come as investors race to pull out of high-risk investments — such as oil or stocks in emerging countries bought with borrowed yen — as they grew more worried about the prospect of a deeper, prolonged global economic recession.

The sharp strengthening in the yen threatens to batter Japanese exports at a time when the domestic economy is flirting with recession.