BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda Set to Be Succeeded by Kazuo Ueda

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:35 JST, February 10, 2023

The government plans to nominate Kazuo Ueda, 71, an economist and former Bank of Japan policy board member, to succeed outgoing BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda, whose term ends April 8.

Currently a professor at Kyoritsu Women’s University, Ueda would be the first academic to be appointed BOJ governor. Ueda is well versed in monetary policy and the international economy, and will be entrusted with steering the BOJ’s prolonged monetary easing policy.

The government also plans to nominate former Financial Services Agency Commissioner Ryozo Himino, 62, and BOJ Executive Director Shinichi Uchida, 60, as BOJ deputy governors.

The nominations will be presented to the Diet for confirmation on Tuesday.

The Cabinet appoints the central bank governor and deputy governors after gaining the approval of both houses of the Diet.

Kuroda became BOJ governor in March 2013 after having served as Asian Development Bank president, among other posts.

Having assumed the governorship during Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s second time leading the nation, Kuroda played a key role in his “Abenomics” economic stimulus strategy.

Under Kuroda’s tenure, the BOJ has pursued an unprecedented monetary easing program to tackle deflation and stimulate the Japanese economy, with aggressive asset-buying that has helped lift stock prices and correct a strong yen that had weighed on automakers and other exporters.