There was a lot of speculation about who the next BOJ governor would be over the overnight USDJPY movement. There was a lot of anticipation for the announcement as the new governor is expected provide new direction for the bank. The current governor Haruhiko Koroda will likely be leaving in April after his term ends. This would mean that there will be just one meeting under his direction.
Kuroda has, naturally, been a constant dove. He kept rates in negative throughout his tenure and used extraordinary easing to try to increase organic inflation. Global conditions have resulted in higher inflation recently, so the BOJ has had some changes to its decades-long stance.
These are the potential competitors
Since a few months, speculation has been rife that the new BOJ governor will be more hawkish. Kuroda, the most dovish central banking official in the world, is a matter for probability. It was expected that he would continue to follow the same policy until his term ended, but could adjust things to make it easier for his successor. This included studying the effects of eliminating YCC and extending the band to…
