1 week Ago
TOKYO : The Japanese government on Thursday nominated Kazuyuki Masu, a former chief financial officer of Mitsubishi Corp , to join the Bank of Japan's nine-member policy board. Masu would replace former Hitachi executive Toyoaki Nakamura, seen as among the most dovish members of the central bank's board. If formally approved by parliament, Masu would begin his five-year term on July 1, as Nakamura serves out his term a day before.
He will fill a post traditionally reserved for a business executive on the BOJ board, which comprises academics, economists, career bureaucrats and senior officials from the finance and corporate sectors. The appointment comes as Trump's decision to impose sweeping tariffs worldwide, including on Japan, has complicated the BOJ's plan to continue raising interest rates from still-low levels. The BOJ exited a radical stimulus programme in March last year and raised interest rates to 0.
25 per cent in July and to 0.5 per cent in January on the view that Japan was on the cusp of sustainably achieving its 2 per cent inflation target. Nakamura voted against the BOJ's decision to end negative rates and the two rate hikes, due to concerns over the potential damage to small and mid-sized firms.
His departure follows the appointment in March of Junko Koeda, an academic known as a fiscal and monetary hawk who succeeded another dovish member, potentially tipping the board increasingly in favour of steady rate hikes..
