"There is a lot of political pressure on the BOJ and this is another big point that we will have to focus on"
- Steven Saywell, global head of FX currency strategy at BNP Paribas
The fact that the current Governor of the Bank of Japan Masaaki Shirakawa will step down on March 19, three weeks before his five-year tenor ends in April, is adding to concerns that more aggressive monetary easing from Japan's central bank could now come sooner than it was expected. Shirakawa also claimed him and members of his policy board as pioneers of unconventional easing measures and have argued that more actions could severely disrupt the financial markets, so the fact he does not share the government's view, and the new Governor will likely share Shinzo Abe's views, means that the shift in the monetary policy will come soon. Shinzo Abe, who became Japan's prime minister, has vowed to revive a stagnant economy and put pressure on the BoJ to pursue a much more aggressive monetary policy than it has done in the past in order to end deflation.
"There is a lot of political pressure on the BOJ and this is another big point that we will have to focus on," said Steven Saywell, global head of FX currency strategy at BNP Paribas.
"There was no pressure at all from the government, this was my own decision," Shirakawa told reporters last night after a meeting with Abe, saying it was not an act of protest.
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