Kazuo Ueda

Kazuo Ueda is a Japanese academic economist who became Governor of the Bank of Japan in April 2023, succeeding Haruhiko Kuroda after one of the most consequential central bank tenures in history. Ueda served as a member of the BOJ Policy Board from 1998 to 2005 and subsequently as a professor at the University of Tokyo. His appointment was seen as a signal that the BOJ might begin normalizing its ultra-loose monetary policy, including its controversial Yield Curve Control (YCC) policy that had kept 10-year JGB yields near zero. Under Ueda, the BOJ has made several adjustments to YCC and in March 2024 ended its negative interest rate policy, raising rates for the first time in 17 years. These decisions have had major implications for global carry trades involving JPY, JGB markets, and Japanese equity valuations.