Incoming BoJ chief to outline policies in Diet

Source: Kyodo News Service

The incoming chief of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will speak in the Diet, possibly next Monday 17 March, about his policies for stabilizing the faltering financial system and fighting deflation, a top official of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) said Tuesday. "It will be too late" for Toshihiko Fukui to announce his policies after his term officially starts 20 March, given the recent rapid stock plunges, LDP liberal democratic party Secretary-General Taku Yamasaki said.

On Tuesday 11 March in Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei Stock Average fell to a fresh 20-year low, closing below 7,900 for the first time since 25 January 1983, amid growing concerns about a possible war on Iraq. The ruling coalition and the opposition agreed Tuesday to convene a House of Representatives plenary session on Thursday to approve the nomination of Fukui as BOJ governor, Diet members said.

They said the House of Representatives will endorse the government's appointment of Fukui in a plenary session Thursday and the House of Councillors will do likewise Friday, the final step for Fukui to be confirmed as successor to outgoing BOJ Governor Masaru Hayami. Yamasaki, known as one of the closest allies of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, said he hopes the next BOJ chief will work closely with the government to fight deflation.

The Diet members involved in Diet proceedings said Fukui is expected to speak in the two chambers on Monday and Tuesday, respectively. The opposition camp has been demanding to hear Fukui's monetary policy views before the Diet votes on his nomination.

But Yamasaki told a gathering organized by Kyodo News there was no precedent of a BOJ governor-designate being summoned to testify before Diet approval since the current rules were drawn up five years ago, when the BOJ Law was amended. Fukui, 67, is chairman of the Fujitsu Research Institute and was formerly a deputy governor of the central bank. He would assume the post on 20 March, the day after Hayami steps down at the end of his term.