Japan's parliament on Friday approved the nomination of aggressive monetary easing advocate Seiji Adachi as a new member of the Bank of Japan's Policy Board.

Adachi, a 54-year-old economist at Marusan Securities Co., will replace Yutaka Harada, a proponent of using massive monetary stimulus to invigorate the economy. Harada's five-year term on the nine-seat board ends on March 25.

The nomination by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government of Adachi, who also worked at other financial institutions such as Deutsche Securities Inc., was approved by the House of Councillors on Friday after the House of Representatives gave the nod a day earlier.

At a meeting of the Japan Society of Monetary Economics in May last year, Adachi voiced support for the BOJ's ultraeasy monetary policy.

He has jointly published books with Harada and the BOJ's former Deputy Governor Kikuo Iwata, also seen as an advocate of massive monetary easing.

Adachi said in a book published after a consumption tax hike to 10 percent from 8 percent on Oct. 1 that "the policy mix of fiscal expansion by the government and government-bond purchases by the BOJ is necessary to pull the country out of deflation."

While inflation rates remain below the BOJ's 2 percent target and the tax increase poses risks to the Japanese economy, the central bank has maintained an ultraloose monetary policy using its limited policy tools.

==Kyodo

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