A rapid decline in the yen and market distortions caused by current monetary settings have raised the political heat on the Bank of Japan as it becomes increasingly isolated in a world of hawkish-leaning central banks.
Opposition lawmakers are grilling the BOJ regularly for allowing the currency to weaken and push up living costs, putting Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a tight spot ahead of an upper house election scheduled in July.
While Kishida has defended the BOJ¡¯s policy as necessary for supporting a persistently weak economy, the fresh scrutiny on the bank could color the government¡¯s deliberations about who will succeed its dovish governor, Haruhiko Kuroda.
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