WHAT HAS THE DPJ SAID ON BOJ’S EASY MONEY POLICY?
Katsuya Okada, the party’s No. 2 executive, said last month the party believed the government should not interfere in monetary policy and would respect BOJ decisions. In the past some party officials, including Kohei Otsuka, a former BOJ official who is now a vice finance spokesman of the party, have been critical of the BOJ’s easy money policy, saying low rates deprived consumers of interest income. But that was before the global financial crisis. Many analysts doubt if the party would stick to the same argument now. Even though the Democrats have said they want to shift Japan’s export-reliant economy towards one more focused on personal consumption, analysts say Japan will continue to rely on exports for growth and therefore may need to keep rates low. “I think the Democrats will take a more pragmatic approach to macroeconomics if they come to power,” said Hirokata Kusaba, a senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute. “Being the opposition, their criticism of monetary policy in th
