Shirakawa Officially Resigns to the Bank of Japan

Bank of Japan (BOJ) governor Masaaki Shirakawa formally resigned Tuesday, making way for his successor, Haruhiko Kuroda, who will take office on Wednesday.

Shirakawa told his last press conference at the bank that his five years in office was turbulent five years affected by major events including the Leman shock, European debt crisis, the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami of Japan.

“Bank of Japan had well played the role of “last lender” and ensured the stability of Japan’s financial system during the past five years,” said Shirakawa.

Shirakawa said he did not regret any thing during his tenure, refuting some critics about his failure to take enough measures in fighting deflation.

He said that monetary policy alone will not be enough to pull Japan out of deflation.

“Powerful monetary easing by the central bank is necessary to overcome deflation,” Shirakawa said. “Meanwhile, a wide range of efforts from the government to enhance competitiveness and growth are required.”

via Xinhua

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza