By Tetsushi Kajimoto
TOKYO (Reuters) - The government on Tuesday nominated Toyoaki Nakamura, a Hitachi Ltd (T:6501) executive, to join the Bank of Japan's nine-member policy board.
Nakamura, 67, would replace Yukitoshi Funo, a former executive of Toyota Motor Corp (T:7203) who has consistently voted with the majority and holds a neutral policy stance.
If formally approved by parliament, Nakamura would begin his five-year term on July 1, as Funo serves out his term a day before.
Nakamura will fill a post traditionally reserved for a business executive on the BOJ board, which is comprised of academics, economists, career bureaucrats and senior officials from the finance and corporate sectors.
Board members who hailed from the corporate sector in the past tended to vote with the majority of the board.
Nakamura will join the BOJ at a time the central bank is battling strong economic headwind from the coronavirus outbreak with a dwindling policy toolkit.
The BOJ eased monetary policy in an emergency meeting on Monday, joining global central banks in combating the economic fallout from the epidemic.
The central bank's board is currently split between those who see room to increase stimulus, and those more worried about the rising cost of prolonged easing such as the hit to banks' profit from years of ultra-low interest rates.