Ex-BOJ Deputy Governor Wakatabe to Join Key Govt Panel

Tokyo, Nov. 7 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government Friday announced the appointments of new nongovernmental members of its blue-ribbon Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy, including former Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Masazumi Wakatabe. Wakatabe, professor at Waseda University, advocated aggressive monetary easing in line with former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “Abenomics” reflationary policy mix. While serving as deputy governor from 2018 to 2023, Wakatabe supported then Governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s massive monetary easing framework. Other people picked for the post include Dai-ichi Life Research Institute Inc. economist Toshihiro Nagahama and Tomoko Nanba, executive chair of information technology company DeNA Co. Current member Yoshinobu Tsutsui, chairman of the Japan Business Federation, the country’s biggest business lobby, also known as Keidanren, will stay on. The appointments will be formalized soon. Nagahama supports the idea of pursuing growth through fiscal spending, calling for easing fiscal reconstruction targets. Nanba established DeNA in 1999 and served as Keidanren’s first female vice chair. Economic growth strategy minister Minoru Kiuchi told a press conference that the three will utilize their knowledge on macroeconomic issues and experience in global management. “We chose members who are suitable” for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration, Kiuchi said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]