The Japanese House of Representatives, or the Diet's lower house which is controlled by the ruling coalition, approved on Thursday the government's proposal to promote Bank of Japan (BOJ) Deputy Governor Toshiro Muto as chief to succeed Toshihiko Fukui.
The lower house also approved the nomination of former BOJ Executive Director Masaaki Shirakawa and Takatoshi Ito, an economics professor at the University of Tokyo, as new deputies.
The lower house's decision came one day after the House of Councillor's rejection of the nomination of Muto and Ito and approval of that of Shirakawa.
The opposition bloc cited worries about the central bank's independence from the government on making monetary policies under Muto who had served as vice finance minister.
As the nomination of the central bank chief requires approval from both houses of the Diet, the post may be vacant for some time after Fukui's five-year term expires on March 19. The opposition-controlled upper house demanded that the government find an suitable alternative for Muto.
In the current situation, Shirakawa may serve as proxy head of the central bank according to the Bank of Japan Law.
The Japanese government proposed the nominations to the Diet on Friday. In seek of the appointment's smooth clearance of the Diet, Fukuda had proposed talks with major opposition Democratic Party of Japan chief Ichiro Ozawa on the matter, but received no response.
Some analysts have expressed their concerns that the vacancy of the central bank top post would harm Japan's financial credibility and pose further adverse effect to the country's economy in addition to yen's continued appreciation and depressed stock markets.
Source:Xinhua
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