Photo/Illutration Kazuo Ueda, an economics professor who has been nominated as the next Bank of Japan governor, speaks with reporters on Feb. 10. (Chihaya Inagaki)

Lawmakers reacted in bafflement when the news spread like wildfire on Feb. 10 through political and financial circles that economist Kazuo Ueda would be named the next Bank of Japan governor.

One lawmaker who previously worked in the financial industry summed up the sentiment with the comment, “Who is Ueda?”

The economics professor at Kyoritsu Women’s University, who once served as dean of the economics faculty of the University of Tokyo, would face the difficulty of dealing with the ultra-loose monetary policy in place for the 10 years Haruhiko Kuroda served as BOJ governor.

In speaking to reporters on Feb. 10, Ueda, 71, refrained from commenting on the reports that he was in line to succeed Kuroda, whose term ends on April 8. 

However, he offered a glimpse of what could be in store if he takes the reins of the BOJ.

“Decisions on monetary policy must be made based on an assessment of the current trends of and future projections for the economy and prices," Ueda said. "I believe the current monetary policy is appropriate and there is a need to continue with a loose monetary policy.”

He added that various difficult issues were involved so it was not likely that a sudden change in monetary policy would be made.

Experts were generally supportive of Ueda's selection.

Izuru Kato, president of Totan Research Co., which analyzes trends in financial markets, said Ueda had the trust of the markets because he could integrate theory as an economist with the actual operations of the central bank.

In addition to Ueda, two individuals were also nominated as vice governors--Ryozo Himino, a former commissioner of the Financial Services Agency and current executive fellow at NLI Research Institute, and Shinichi Uchida. a BOJ board member.

Yasunari Ueno, an economist at Mizuho Securities Co., said the three nominees represented the perfect balance.

Ueda would be the first academic after World War II to serve as BOJ governor.

Ueno said, “As a scholar, Ueda will be supported in handling the operation of a huge organization by Uchida, who is already with the central bank, while Himino, a former bureaucrat, can handle communications through his vast international network of acquaintances.”

(This article was compiled from reports by Takehiro Tomoda, Kyosuke Yamamoto, Chihaya Inagaki, Yuki Kubota, Shinya Tokushima and Toshiki Horigome, a senior staff writer.)

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