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Toshiro Muto: Next Bank of Japan Governor?

June 20, 2007
By Ken Worsley


Although Heizo Takenaka is apparently also a candidate for the position, a survey of 15 economists by Bloomberg indicated that Toshiro Muto is the most likely candidate to replace current Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui when he leaves his post next March.

According to his profile at the Bank of Japan’s website, Muto is a 1966 graduate of Tokyo University’s Law Faculty and entered the Okurasho (now known as the Zaimusho, or Ministry of Finance) upon graduating. He worked his way up to being chief of the Budget Bureau in 1999 before becoming a Vice Minister in 2000, a position that he held for two and a half years before stepping down to become a consultant to the Ministry. The position of Vice Minister is the highest position that may be held by a bureaucrat.

Since 2003, Muto has been on the Policy Board at the Bank of Japan, serving as one of the Bank’s two Deputy Governors. The other Deputy Governor is Kazumasa Iwata, who is also considered a strong candidate for the position. You may recall that back in February, when the BOJ’s Policy Board voted 8-1 to raise benchmark interest rates to 0.5%, Iwata cast the lone dissenting vote.

As Bloomberg put it:

Muto, speaking at a seminar on April 4, said the central bank needs to raise borrowing costs gradually as the economy expands and prices rise — the same language the bank uses in its latest semi-annual outlook report.

Sounds like Fukui. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Filed Under Bank of Japan, Monetary Policy 

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Comments

2 Responses to “Toshiro Muto: Next Bank of Japan Governor?”

  1. Where politics shouldn’t be: Is Muto’s tenure as next BOJ Governor already in danger? : Japan Economy News & Blog on December 2nd, 2007 11:33 pm

    […] noted back in June that a Bloomberg survey had indicated current BOJ Deputy Governor Toshiro Muto as the most likely successor…. That, however, was before the July Upper House election, which saw the Democratic Party of Japan […]

  2. Still waiting to see when Muto will be named as next Bank of Japan Governor Japan Economy News & Blog - Business, Economy, Marketing and Economic Reports on February 22nd, 2008 4:34 pm

    […] that former Ministry of Finance Vice Minister and current Deputy Governor of the Bank of Japan Toshiro Muto would be the prime candidate to succeed current BOJ governor Toshihiko Fukui, whose term ends on March 19 (ie, real […]

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