MNI POLICY: Reflationist Adachi Set to Join BOJ Board Member

     TOKYO (MNI) - Seiji Adachi, a private economist with a reputation as a

reflationist, is set to become a Bank of Japan board member on March 26 after

the government's nomination was approved by Japan's Diet.

     Japan's Upper House plenary session on Friday approved Adachi as the

successor to BOJ board member Yutaka Harada, whose term ends on March 25.

     On Thursday, Japan's Lower House plenary session approved the government's

nomination.

     The appointment of Adachi, who is known as an advocate of aggressive

monetary easing, was first announced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Government

on Jan. 28.

     Adachi, 54, will be formally appointed as the new BOJ board member on March

26 and he is expected to hold an inauguration news conference on the same day.

     Adachi is the head of economic research at Marusan Securities, and

previously worked at an economist at Deutsche Securities and Credit Suisse.

     The BOJ, led by the governor Haruhiko Kuroda, continues to make efforts to

achieve the 2% price target, but the Japanese economy is far away from achieving

this, with the core inflation rate still below 1.0%.

     Kuroda has vowed to balance the benefits and costs of the BOJ's policy

actions. 

     Some of the nine board members have voiced concern over the side-effects of

a prolonged easing policy based on negative rates. 

--MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-2175-0040; email: hiroshi.inoue@marketnews.com

--MNI Sydney Bureau; +61 405322399; email: lachlan.colquhoun.ext@marketnews.com

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