Masaru Hayami, who as governor of the Bank of Japan employed unprecedented zero-interest-rate policies and brought quantitative monetary easing to the fore to address financial crises, died Saturday, his family said Sunday. He was 84.

Hayami served as the 28th BOJ chief between March 1998 and March 2003 during a time when the economy was jolted by the collapse of a number of financial institutions brought down by bad loans.

His family did not disclose the cause of death.