Gov’t presents plan to reappoint Kuroda as BOJ governor

February 16, 2018

Tokyo- The Japanese government presented Friday its plan to seek parliamentary approval for reappointing Haruhiko Kuroda, 73, as Bank of Japan governor.

For deputy governors of the central bank, the government proposed appointing Waseda University Prof. Masazumi Wakatabe, 52, and BOJ Executive Director Masayoshi Amamiya, 62.

The nominees were presented at a board meeting of the steering committees of both chambers of parliament.

The BOJ governor and deputy governors, each serving a five-year term, are named by the cabinet based on parliamentary approval.

If his nomination is approved, Kuroda will be the first BOJ governor to be reappointed since the late Masamichi Yamagiwa, who held the top post of the Japanese central bank fom 1956 to 1964.

Kuroda's current term expires on April 8.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe highly rates Kuroda's achievements, believing that the massive monetary easing promoted under his leadership has served as the driving force for Abe's reflationary policy mix, dubbed Abenomics, and allowed the Japanese economy to stage a recovery.

By having Kuroda stay on and appointing Wakatabe, another advocate of aggressive monetary easing, as deputy BOJ governor, the government hopes to emphasize its resolve to overcome deflation.

The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito is planning for the three nominees to speak about their policy stances in both chambers of parliament as early as next week and get their appointments put to votes at plenary meetings of the two houses by the end of this month.

As the ruling parties jointly have majorities in both houses, the appointments are certain to be approved by parliament,

Kuroda promoted aggressive monetary easing of a "different dimension," which led to improvements in corporate earnings and employment through the effects of the yen's weakening and rising stock prices.

The rare reappointment of a BOJ governor is apparently intended to eliminate uncertainty over the course of monetary easing and help stabilize financial markets.

Wakatabe, together with Amamiya, who is well-versed in monetary policy planning, will support the new phase of the Kuroda era in BOJ history.

Kuroda joined the Finance Ministry in 1967 after graduating from the University of Tokyo and held such positions as vice minister of finance for international affairs, or the country's top currency diplomat. He served as president of the Manila-based Asian Development Bank before becoming BOJ governor in March 2013.

Wakatabe graduated from Waseda University in 1987 and became professor at the university's Faculty of Political Science and Economics in 2005.

Amamiya joined the BOJ in 1979 after graduating from the University of Tokyo, was named executive director of the central bank in June 2010, and reappointed to the post in June 2014. Jiji Press