ADB president proposed as BOJ governor

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TOKYO, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- The Japanese government Thursday proposed Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda as the next governor of its central bank.

If approved by Japan's Parliament, the 68-year-old Kuroda, described by Kyodo News as an advocate of aggressive monetary easing, will succeed current Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa.

The new Japanese government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has introduced a number of stimulus measures to lift the recession-hit economy out of its chronic deflation and would want a central bank chief who would go along with such measures.

Commenting on Kuroda's nomination, Junko Nishioka of RBS Securities told the BBC, "This clearly indicates that the government and the central bank will be working towards the same target and there will be an agreement on what direction the Japanese economy should take from here."

Parliament is expected to act on Kuroda's nomination next month.

The ADB website said under Kuroda, the bank tripled its capital base from $55 billion to $165 billion. He also helped the bank adopt a new long-term strategy, refocusing its operational agenda on inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth and regional cooperation and integration.

Before joining ADB, Kuroda was special adviser in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and a professor at the Graduate School of Economics at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo. He graduated in law from the University of Tokyo and earned his graduate degree in economics from the University of Oxford.