A JP Morgan strategist has joined the Finance Ministry to help manage Japan's $1 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves — the first official from the private sector recruited for that purpose, the ministry said.
Akihiko Yokoyama, 40, formerly headed up fixed-income research at JP Morgan Securities Japan Co.
He began working as a financial market analyst at the ministry Sunday. His term is two years but can be extended up to five years, a ministry official said.
Yokoyama told reporters he hopes to draw on his 14 years of experience at the U.S. securities firm to reflect the views of market participants in foreign-exchange management policy.
The reserves, the world's second largest after China's, stood at just over $1 trillion as of the end of February. There have been calls for the government to "strategically manage" the reserves, which are mainly U.S. Treasury bonds.