By Leika Kihara and Satoshi Sugiyama
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday he hoped the central bank’s new leadership will take into account the government’s goal of achieving higher wages and sustained economic growth, in guiding monetary policy.
Kishida also said it was premature to say whether the government and the Bank of Japan (BOJ) should revise a joint policy statement, which commits the BOJ to achieve its 2% inflation target at the earliest date possible.
“We’d like to achieve structural wage growth and sustainable economic growth. I hope the new BOJ leadership guide policy taking account our policy direction,” Kishida told parliament.
The government on Tuesday named academic Kazuo Ueda as its pick to become next central bank governor, a surprise choice that could heighten the chance of an end to its unpopular yield control policy.
Kishida said he had exchanged views with various people since last year in making the decision, but declined to say when exactly he finalised the line-up.
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The prime minister said Ueda was the best fit to lead the central bank as he is a well known economist globally and has high expertise in finance.
The appointment was made after taking the market impact as well economic and wage growth and price stability targets into consideration, Kishida said, adding that internal and external communication skills were also a factor in the decision.
(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Sam Holmes)