*
Premature to say whether joint statement needs revision -
Suzuki
*
Goals mentioned in current statement still important -
Suzuki
*
Remarks come as govt selection of new BOJ chief
intensifies
(Adds quotes, detail)
By Leika Kihara
TOKYO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - A possible revision to a joint
Japanese government and Bank of Japan (BOJ) statement that
focuses on pulling the country out of deflation must be
discussed with the new BOJ governor, Finance Minister Shunichi
Suzuki said.
"What to do with the statement is something the government
must discuss with the new governor," Suzuki told parliament on
Friday, adding that it was premature to say whether it actually
needs to be revised as the government has yet to nominate the
new BOJ chief.
"But the goals mentioned in the joint statement, such as the
need to pull Japan out of deflation and achieve stable economic
growth, remain important policy challenges," Suzuki said.
The remarks came as the government intensifies its efforts
to select a successor to BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, whose
second, five-year term ends in April.
Some analysts say a revision to the statement signed a
decade ago would allow the BOJ to tweak its ultra-loose monetary
policy more flexibly, and could heighten market expectations of
a near-term end to its yield control policy.
Under strong pressure by then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to
take bolder steps to beat deflation, the BOJ signed the joint
statement with the government in 2013 and committed itself to
achieve its 2% inflation target "at the earliest date possible".
Some officials of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's
administration are keen to revise the statement that focuses on
steps to beat deflation - a goal that has become out of sync
with recent rises in inflation, sources have told Reuters.
(Reporting by Leika Kihara
Editing by Chang-Ran Kim & Shri Navaratnam)
