Financial assets disclosed earlier this week by Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui included $120,000 in time deposits, Diet officials said Thursday.
The BOJ admitted the dollar deposits in an oral response to inquiries from House of Representatives Financial Affairs Committee members, they said.
While internal BOJ rules do not ban its senior officials from holding deposits in foreign currencies, many observers said the revelation could fan the flames of criticism against Fukui, since his position gives him strong sway in foreign-exchange markets.
Fukui, who has come under fire for his 10 million yen investment in a fund set up by disgraced financier Yoshiaki Murakami, disclosed Tuesday that he and his wife had a combined 341 million yen in assets as of the end of March.
According to Democratic Party of Japan member Shinichiro Furumoto of the Diet committee, the time deposits in question are part of the 186.6 million yen that was disclosed by Fukui as being "cash and other deposits."
Murakami, a former central government bureaucrat, was arrested June 5 and charged on June 23 with insider trading, a violation of the Securities and Exchange Law.