Ruling party response mixed as next BOJ head choice comes as surprise

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s plan to nominate academic Kazuo Ueda as the next Bank of Japan governor drew mixed responses within the ruling party on Friday, with some members welcoming the move as indicative of continued monetary easing, and others caught off guard by the choice.

Opposition parties, which have been critical of the government’s “Abenomics” economy strategy that centered on the central bank’s ultraloose monetary policy, expressed hope that the next BOJ governor will not inherit the current monetary policy.

The incumbent BOJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda, who has served in the post ...