North Asia

Japan Lawmakers Rubber-Stamp Ueda as Next BOJ Governor

Kazuo Ueda, right, is seen with former Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, left, when he was a member of the central bank's policy board at a meeting ahead of G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' meeting in Sendai, Japan. File photo from May 2016 by Kyodo via Reuters.

Japan’s Lower House of Parliament rubber-stamped the appointment of Kazuo Ueda as the next Bank of Japan governor on Thursday.

The current BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s term is set to expire on April 8. Mr Ueda is a former economics professor at the University of Tokyo who served on the BOJ’s policy board from 1998 to 2005.

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Ueda is considered an expert on monetary policy and played a key role in battling the initial phase of Japan’s deflation with the introduction of huge amounts of asset purchases and forward guidance for financial markets.

The Lower House also approved candidates for two BOJ deputy governors – Ryozo Himino, a former head of the Financial Services Agency, and Shinichi Uchida, currently a BOJ executive director in charge of monetary policy.

The Upper House is scheduled to vote on the nominees Friday.

Reuters with additional editing by Sean O’Meara

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Sean O'Meara

Sean O'Meara is an Editor at Asia Financial. He has been a newspaper man for more than 30 years, working at local, regional and national titles in the UK as a writer, sub-editor, page designer and print editor. A football, cricket and rugby fan, he has a particular interest in sports finance.