TOKYO, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of Japan (BOJ) chief nominee Kazuo Ueda told a lower house parliamentary hearing on Friday that he plans to stick to the central bank's massive monetary easing program.
"If I am approved as governor, I would like to work closely with the government and implement appropriate policies in accordance with developments in economic activity and prices," Ueda told the hearing.
"I would also like to create a situation where wages rise structurally in tandem with efforts by businesses and government policies. I will try to achieve price stability not temporarily but in a sustainable manner."
Ueda said inflation in Japan is rising at a rate of around 4 percent. Government data released on Friday indicated that Japan's core consumer prices rose 4.2 percent in January from a year earlier, increasing at a pace not seen since September 1981, owing to rising energy and food prices.
The latest rise in core consumer prices follows a 4.0 jump logged in December, with January's reading marking the 10th straight month the index has remained above BOJ's 2 percent inflation target.
Along with saying uncertainty surrounded Japanese and global economy, Ueda noted that inflation is predominantly "cost-push" down to the rising import prices, rather than being a result of strong demand.
He said that the cost-push factors are temporary and would eventually give way, with inflation here dropping below the 2 percent mark later this year.
"I think it will take a while to achieve the 2-percent target. I believe it's appropriate for the BOJ to continue with the current monetary easing, in view of the current economic activity and prices and future prospects," Ueda said.
The 71-year-old academic formerly served as a member of the central bank's decision-making body, and is known to be a specialist in finance and macroeconomics.
Ueda earned his doctorate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. He held the position of professor of economics at the University of Tokyo as well as Kyoritsu Women's University, and remains a special adviser to BOJ's Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies since 2008.
He was instrumental in introducing BOJ's zero interest rate policy and quantitative easing measures. If approved by parliament for the post, he will become the first BOJ governor to have been an academic for the majority of his life, since postwar times.
Meanwhile, the government has selected Ryozo Himino, a former commissioner of the Financial Services Agency, and Shinichi Uchida, an executive director at the central bank, as its picks for the bank's deputy governors.
Providing the nominees are approved by both houses of parliament, controlled by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), they will be appointed with 5-year terms by Japanese Prime Minister and LDP leader Fumio Kishida.
The nominees will speak in front of the Steering Committees in the weeks ahead and face questions from lawmakers. ■