The Bank of Japan has "normalized" interest rates without hurting financial markets and should keep doing so without interference from politicians, said Kaoru Yosano, head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's fiscal reform panel.
"The Bank of Japan should decide policy independently from politics, and I want it to keep doing so," Yosano, a former chief Cabinet secretary, said in an interview Monday in Tokyo. "We have complete trust that the bank will make an appropriate judgment."
Yosano's support for BOJ Gov. Toshihiko Fukui's policy of raising rates gradually contrasts with others in the LDP, including former Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa, who has urged the central bank to keep borrowing costs low to spur economic growth. Fukui said Saturday in Washington that he's become more confident Japan's expansion will be sustained.