Japan's newly elected Democratic government has nominated Ryuzo Miyao, an academic, as a candidate for the Bank of Japan's policy board, several media sources reported on Thursday.

Miyao, a professor of macroeconomics at Kobe University, is thought to share the opinion of Masaaki Shirakawa, the central bank's governor, that quantitative easing is a stabilising force, but not one that promotes growth.

A Democratic party official was quoted as saying the nomination of Miyao was likely to be