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In Japanese news from Forbes lately we discovered that the leadership vacancy at the Bank of Japan should be quickly addressed given the current volatility of global financial markets, Japanese Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga said Friday.

‘The period of vacancy at the Bank of Japan governor’s post has to be as minimum as possible as the global financial markets continue to be unstable,’ he told reporters.

He made the comment after the opposition-controlled upper house on Wednesday voted down the government’s latest nominee for BoJ governor, making the central bank’s top position vacant for the first time in the country’s postwar history. Toshihiko Fukui stepped down as BoJ chief on the same day.

Masaaki Shirakawa, who was recently approved by the cabinet as deputy governor of the central bank, will take the role of acting governor in the meantime.

Separately, Japan’s economic and fiscal policy minister, Hiroko Ota, said it was ‘very regrettable’ that the position of central bank chief was left vacant but she expressed confidence it will not have a major impact on the economy.

She also said the post needs to be filled soon so that Japan can manage risks to its economic and financial stability, as the global credit crisis has not been resolved yet and the financial and capital markets remain volatile.

(1 US dollar = 99.45 yen)

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Articles are taken from Forbes