Kuroda looks favored to get second term as Bank of Japan chief: Nikkei

TOKYO - 28 October 2017: Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda looks favored to get a second five-year term when his current one ends in April, the Nikkei business paper reported on Saturday.

Following last week’s landside election win for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling bloc, top advisers will discuss candidates for central bank chief, with Kuroda the “leading candidate”, the newspaper reported, citing an unnamed adviser.

The Nikkei quoted the adviser as saying that the next governor must be someone with “an appreciation for the present system”.

Abe is seen maintaining his economic agenda, which focuses on using loose fiscal and monetary policies to maintain the country’s economic recovery.

In Japan, board members of the central bank, including the governor and deputy governor, are appointed by the cabinet.

The Nikkei said the government will propose a list of possible candidates for governor and deputy governors for parliamentary approval at a regular Diet session in January.

Age “will not be a problem” for the government if the 73-year-old Kuroda serves another term, the newspaper quoted Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga as saying.

The Bank of Japan was not immediately available for comment.