If Shinzo Abe wins Sunday's Lower House election, it will boost the chances that Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda will serve a second term, according to a former economy minister.
"Kuroda has done an excellent job. He should continue," Heizo Takenaka said in an interview Monday. After Kuroda pushed through massive stimulus, prices have stopped falling and the economy is in better shape, Takenaka said.
Abe has expressed his trust and confidence in Kuroda numerous times, and reappointing him was seen as the most likely scenario in a recent survey of economists. Even though inflation is nowhere near the BOJ's 2 percent target, the Nikkei 225 stock average closed at a 21-year high Monday and the economy is on track for the longest expansion since 2001.