BOJ Gov. Ueda Hospitalized, to Miss Policy Meeting

Tokyo, June 10 (Jiji Press)–Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda was hospitalized for treatment of a liver cyst infection on Tuesday and is expected to miss the central bank’s next two-day policy-setting meeting from Monday, the BOJ said Wednesday. Ueda is expected to stay in hospital for about two weeks, the bank said. He will not vote in the upcoming Policy Board meeting, leaving policy decisions to the remaining eight board members. Ueda will be the first BOJ governor to miss a scheduled policy-setting meeting since the revised BOJ law took effect in 1998. The BOJ is considering raising its policy interest rate from the current 0.75 pct to 1 pct at the upcoming meeting. Ueda’s absence “will unlikely affect the possible decision” at the meeting, said Mari Iwashita, an executive rates strategist at Nomura Securities Co., noting that he already laid the groundwork for a rate hike in his speech on June 3. The meeting will be chaired by Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino, while a press conference after the meeting will be held by Shinichi Uchida, another deputy governor of the BOJ, with each standing in for Ueda. According to the bank, the governor will perform necessary duties remotely from the hospital. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]