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

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