The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has appointed Kazuhiro Masaki as their Director General of monetary affairs. He will head the department along with Kota Iljima and Hitoshi Sasaki as the Deputy Director Generals.  

Kazuo Ueda, Governor of BOJ, announced the appointments on Monday, following BOJ's decision to enhance flexibility in its yield control policy, in a conference held last week. Market players interpret this appointment as the beginning of a gradual departure from decades of substantial monetary stimulus.

Masaki, a seasoned expert in monetary policy with experience in market operations, has replaced Koji Nakamura, who is now head of the Financial System and Bank Examination Department. 

As the head of BOJ’s Monetary Affairs, Masaki has been assigned the responsibility of overseeing the drafting of central bank policy. Prior to this appointment, he held the position of head of the central bank's financial system department. This department holds significant importance within the institution. Besides shaping monetary policy ideas, it prepares drafts of speeches for the bank's board members, including the governor and deputy governors.

In his previous roles, Masaki served as a senior staff member of the department and played a vital role in several of BOJ's crucial monetary policy shifts, such as the introduction of negative interest rates and yield curve control in 2016.