Japan Set to Nominate New BOJ Board Member, Sources Reveal

By Yoshifumi Takemoto

TOKYO () - The Japanese government plans to present a candidate to parliament on Thursday for appointment to an upcoming vacancy on the central bank’s board, which will open at the end of June. This information was shared with us by three government and ruling party officials on Tuesday.

The candidate, needing approval from both parliamentary chambers, will take over from BOJ board member Toyoaki Nakamura once his five-year tenure concludes on June 30th.

The sources chose not to be named since the issue remains confidential.

Nakamura, who previously served as an executive at the electronic powerhouse Hitachi, became part of the board in July 2020.

Although Nakamura supports raising ultralow-interest rates, he is wary of implementing such measures prematurely because of his worries regarding possible adverse effects on smaller and medium-sized businesses.

(Reported by Yoshifumi Takemoto; Written by Makiko Yamazaki; Edited by Kim Coghill)