Japan parliament set to approve Ishida as new BoJ board member

TOKYO: Japan's upper house of parliament on Monday approved the government's nomination of leasing company head Kouji Ishida as a new member of the Bank of Japan's policy-setting board.

The nomination is set to take effect when the lower house, which the ruling coalition controls, approves it on Tuesday.

Ishida, who heads the leasing arm of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group , replaces Tadao Noda, also a former banking industry veteran whose five-year term ends on Thursday.

Little is known about Ishida's views on monetary policy but he is unlikely to rock the boat in debates at policy meetings at least in the near term, analysts say.

He is expected to join the BOJ by the end of this month and make his debut at its rate-setting meeting in July. The BOJ is set to keep monetary policy hold at its two-day policy meeting that ends on Tuesday.

BOJ board nominations, which need approval by both houses of parliament to take effect, have at times been controversial and drawn-out affairs in recent years as opposition parties could wield their upper-house majority to veto the government's choice.

Copyright Reuters, 2011