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. Keep in mind that Haruhiko Kuroda (current governor) will be retiring at the end his term. This means that there will only be one meeting under his leadership.
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.
The possible contenders
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. His intention was to keep policy the same until the end of his term but tweak them in order prepare for his replacement. The task included studying the effect of eliminating YCC and extending…
