( dpa ) - The Japanese government on Tuesday selected the governor of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation to lead the central bank after its initial nominee was voted down by the opposition-led upper house of the Diet.
Koji Tanami was nominated to Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui, whose tenure ends Wednesday.
The House of Councillors, led by the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, last week blocked the nomination of Toshiro Muto, who is the central bank's deputy governor, for fear that his background as a former vice finance minister would interfere with the bank's independent policy decisions.
The upper house and the House of Representatives, led by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, must both agree on a candidate to head Japan's central bank.