TOKYO (Reuters) – An investigation by Japan’s government, conducted on request by parliament, found there were no media leaks by government officials on the selection of the nominee for next central bank governor, a ruling party lawmaker said on Thursday.
The Nikkei newspaper reported on Friday the government was expected to appoint academic Kazuo Ueda as the next Bank of Japan (BOJ) governor, which other media including Reuters also reported on the day.
Four days later, the government officially announced Ueda as its pick to succeed incumbent BOJ governor Haruhiko Kuroda when his second, five-year term ends in April.
On request by the lower house steering committee, the prime minister’s office conducted an investigation into whether officials violated a tacit rule that bans them from leaking the names of nominees for key public posts to the media before they are presented to parliament.
The government said the investigation, which targeted 14 government officials as well as the nominees for BOJ governor and two deputies, found there were no leaks, Shunichi Yamaguchi, head of the lower house steering committee, told reporters.
The government said it offered the BOJ governor post to Ueda and the two deputy posts to former banking watchdog head Ryozo Himino and BOJ executive Shinichi Uchida, on Feb. 13 – a day before the official government announcement, Yamaguchi said.
The rule on the government nominations was set in 2013 to prevent names of government nominees for key public positions, which could move markets, from being leaked to the media before they are formally presented to parliament for approval.
While not legally binding, the rule requires the government look into any media leaks and brief lawmakers on the result, as well as come up with measures to avoid a recurrence.
(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; writing by Leika Kihara; Editing by Sam Holmes)
