My Take on the BOJ Governor's Reappointment

The odds of Masaaki Shirakawa's reappointment when his term expires in April dropped somewhat with the government-BOJ “accord,” since it binds the BOJ to the Noda administration. with the market response tepid at best, the LDP will hammer away at the package as inadequate and Shirakawa will suffer collateral damage. However, the LDP's action when it takes power will be tempered by the fact that the opposition will do its best to sink any new nominee, which means that Shirakawa is still a reasonably good bet for reappointment, if he wants it.