economics professor kazuo ueda was nominated tuesday as the bank of japans next governor tasked with navigating a way forward after a decade of extraordinary monetary easing the respected economist described as careful and cautious was a surprise pick for the change of guard after the outgoing governors deputy reportedly turned down the job the position will likely be tough going with ueda facing pressure to join international peers in tightening while avoiding panic by suddenly unwinding the banks decadeold monetary policy in another example of the headwinds facing japans economy data released tuesday morning showed that gdp expanded just 02 percent in the last quarter of 2022 a smaller rebound than expected despite the longawaited reopening of the country to tourists ueda was nominated by prime minister fumio kishida according to a government document handed to reporters a decision that must be approved by lawmakers but that is expected to be largely a formality given that kishidas ruling coalition commands a healthy parliamentary majority a former boj policy board member ueda will take the reins from governor haruhiko kuroda the central banks longestserving leader and the architect of its ultraloose policies since kuroda became governor in 2013 his attempts to boost japans moribund economy have ranged from a negative interest rate to spending vast sums on government bonds in the past year he has held firm even as other central banks hiked rates to tackle inflation with the resulting policy gap causing the yen to slump against the dollar kuroda 78 is due to step down on april 8 when his second term ends he leaves ueda 71 the challenge of working out the banks next steps said saori n katada an international relations professor at the university of southern california this is probably the hardest job at the worst time to take up professor ueda is very brave to accept it she told afp japans easymoney policies have become extreme and no one knows how to get out of it as sudden policy pivots could jeopardise fiscal sustainability katada said in the next five years though the boj has to change course because rising inflation the weak yen and high government spending are unsustainable the yen tumbled from around 115 against the dollar in february 2022 to a threedecade low of 151 yen in october the japanese currency has since recovered to about 132 against the dollar and briefly strengthened when japanese media outlets first reported ueda would be nominated instead of kurodas dovish deputy masayoshi amamiya amamiya who reportedly turned down the job had been seen as a continuity candidate likely to keep the bojs stimulus policies but that does not mean ueda  who has a phd in economics from the massachusetts institute of technology and served on the bojs policy board between 1998 and 2005  should be viewed as a hawk analysts said the current boj policy is appropriate and i think its important to maintain monetary easing policy for now ueda told reporters on friday katada described him as one of the most respected macroeconomists in japan and a good communicator who is relatively cautious kazuo momma executive economist at mizuho research and technologies and a former assistant governor at the bank of japan told afp that ueda had never been hawkish with regard to the bojs monetary policy the banks ultraloose monetary policy dates to the era of former prime minister shinzo abe whose abenomics plan aimed to stimulate growth and banish the deflation that plagued japans economy from the end of the 1980s boom inflation hit a multidecade high of four percent in japan in december  above the bojs longstanding twopercent target  fuelled partly by soaring energy bills but because the trend has not been driven by demand or steady wage increases the boj has said it sees no reason to abandon its dovish policies so ueda will assess very carefully whether the twopercent inflation target will be achieved in any reasonable time horizon and take a cautious position in terms of possible policy changes going forward momma said