Japan Parliament OKs Govt’s Reflationist BOJ Picks

Tokyo, March 23 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s parliament Monday approved the government’s appointments of 22 people for key posts at 11 organizations, including two academics deemed reflationists nominated to the Bank of Japan Policy Board. The BOJ picks were Toichiro Asada, emeritus professor at Chuo University, and Ayano Sato, professor at Aoyama Gakuin University. Both are regarded as proponents of reflationary policy, prioritizing monetary easing and fiscal stimulus. At a plenary meeting Monday, the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of the Diet, approved the government’s appointments of the 22 individuals that required Diet approval. This marked full Diet endorsement as the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, had given its approval Thursday. The 22 also included Hiroko Kondo, former chief of Sapporo High Court, set to head a cyber communication and information oversight committee, an independent body to be established in April. The committee will supervise the operation of “active cyber defense,” under which the government monitors online communication to prevent cyberattacks. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]