TOKYO, June 20 - The Bank of Japan (BOJ) on Wednesday released minutes of its monetary policy meetings held on April 25 and May 17-18, at which its board members voted unanimously to keep policy unchanged.
Last Friday, the Policy Board decided to keep its policy unchanged again, even though data earlier in the week showed Japan's economy contracted in the first three months of the year.
Following are brief profiles of the nine board members:
MASARU HAYAMI, 76, governor - A former BOJ executive director who previously headed a big trading company and a major business lobby, Hayami was named to the post in March 1998. He has been playing down the need for a further easing in response to simmering pressure from politicians, saying on Tuesday that monetary conditions were already accommodative and structural reforms must move forward to enhance the economic stimulus effects of monetary policy. His term expires in March 2003.
YUTAKA YAMAGUCHI, 60, deputy governor - With more than 30 years' experience as a BOJ bureaucrat, he is the central bank's top career official. An expert on monetary policy, Yamaguchi is known to represent the views of BOJ staff. In June, he said the BOJ remained committed to stimulating the economy as much as possible through monetary policy, but added that structural reform had an important role to play despite its short-term deflationary impact. His term expires in April 2003.
SAKUYA FUJIWARA, 64, deputy governor - A former journalist who covered the BOJ for Jiji news agency some 25 years ago. In mid-March, Fujiwara said inflation targeting was a policy option but would be hard to implement at the moment. His term expires in March 2003.
SHIN NAKAHARA, 63, board member - A former deputy president of the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi who replaced Susumu Taketomi on June 16. Nakahara is the only board member who represents the financial sector. At his inaugural news conference, he said the central bank had not run out of options although it was difficult to prove its quantitative easing was having much impact on the economy. He said that as a commercial banker he was well aware that recent monetary easing had failed to increase fund demand among private-sector borrowers. His term expires in June 2006.
MIYAKO SUDA, 53, board member - A former economics professor who joined the Policy Board in April for a five-year term to replace Eiko Shinotsuka. At her inaugural news conference, Suda said she opposed targeting currency rates as a means of monetary policy. She said she saw herself as neither a policy hawk nor a dove. Her term expires in March 2006.
TOSHIO MIKI, 69, board member - A former vice president of Nippon Steel Corp, where he became an expert in financial affairs and accounting. He joined the board in April 1998. A mild policy dove, Miki, along with Taya and Ueda, opposed a February 9 decision to leave the overnight call rate target unchanged at 0.25 percent while agreeing to a cut in the official discount rate. His term expires in April 2002.
TEIZO TAYA, 56, board member - A former managing director of Daiwa Institute of Research, Taya joined in December 1999. In April, he said the BOJ has not run out of monetary policy options to support the economy. In February he proposed a rate cut that was voted down. His term expires in December 2004.
KAZUO UEDA, 49, board member - A former professor at Tokyo University, Ueda was appointed in April 1998. A dovish holdout, Ueda said in May the government's structural reform plans could exacerbate the deflationary environment in the short term but should brighten the outlook for sustainable long-term growth. In March, he was quoted as saying the next monetary step to ease deflationary pressures could include a return to zero interest rates and driving down the value of the yen. His term ends in April 2005.
NOBUYUKI NAKAHARA, 66, board member - A former honorary chairman of oil refiner Tonen Corp and the most persistent policy dove. At the March 19 meeting, Nakahara proposed aiming for a 0.5 to 2.0 percent rise in the CPI in October-December 2002, and called for raising current account deposits to seven trillion yen, but his proposal was voted down. His term expires in April 2002.