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MNI: PRESS: Japan Govt Picks Reflationist Prof As BOJ Dep Gov

     TOKYO (MNI) - The government will nominate, within days, Masazumi Wakatabe,
an economics professor sympathetic to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's reflationary
policy mix, and Masayoshi Amamiya, the career central banker who has drafted
aggressive easing measures, to Bank of Japan deputy governors, the Nikkei
reported Friday.
     Earlier press reports have also said Abe plans to reappoint Haruhiko Kuroda
to a second five-year term as BOJ Governor, allowing him to accomplish the
thorny task of guiding low inflation to a stable 2% under the aggressive easing
program launched in April 2013,
     Wakatabe and Amamiya would replace Hiroshi Nakaso and Kikuo Iwata, whose
five-year term ends on March 19. Kuroda's current term ends on April 8.
     The government plans to hold parliamentary votes on the nominations in
mid-March, the Nikkei said. Given the ruling coalition's majority in both
houses, the re-nomination would likely to be approved easily.
     Wakatabe, who is known as a reflationist and advocates bold monetary easing
to overcome deflation, is an economics professor at Waseda University in Tokyo.
     Wakatabe, 52, has argued for raising the BOJ's annual pace of Japanese
government bond purchases from the current Y80 trillion to Y90 trillion and
broadening the range of financial assets that the bank buys.
     Amamiya, 62, is the BOJ executive director in charge of monetary policy. He
has been responsible for drafting many of the bank's monetary policy measures,
including the policies on quantitative and quality easing and negative interest
rates.
     Abe returned to power in late 2012, vowing to correct the strong yen and
overcome deflation with his policy mix of aggressive monetary easing, increased
fiscal spending and pro-growth structural reform plans.
--MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-2175-0040; email: hiroshi.inoue@marketnews.com
--MNI Tokyo Bureau; tel: +81 90-4670-5309; email: max.sato@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: MAJDS$,MMJBJ$,M$A$$$,M$J$$$]

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