Japan parliament endorses Kazuo Ueda as next BOJ governor

Mar 10 (Nikkei) - Japan's parliament on Friday approved academic Kazuo Ueda as the next Bank of Japan governor, entrusting him with the formidable task of minimizing the side-effects of the central bank's protracted monetary easing and preparing the ground for an exit strategy once its inflation target is within reach.

Ueda, 71, will be the first BOJ chief from academia in postwar Japan, taking over on April 9 from Haruhiko Kuroda, who has been at the helm for 10 years. Friday's approval by the House of Councilors set the stage for the government to formally appoint Ueda, as the more powerful House of Representatives gave the go-ahead a day earlier.

The nominees for deputy governors -- Ryozo Himino, a former commissioner of the Financial Services Agency, and Shinichi Uchida, an executive director at the BOJ -- were also endorsed by parliament. They will succeed Masayoshi Amamiya and Masazumi Wakatabe on March 20 for five-year terms.

The surprise selection of Ueda in February has been taken as an indication that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida wants a gradual departure from the "Abenomics" economy-boosting program that entailed powerful monetary easing as a major pillar. ...continue reading

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