(Bloomberg) -- Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda will be called to parliament on Aug. 23 to answer questions on monetary policy, likely facing questions related to a July 31 rate hike amid criticism that his hawkish tone last month contributed to recent market turmoil.
Ueda will speak at a lower parliamentary committee from 9:30 a.m. to noon on that day, lawmakers decided on Tuesday. Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki will also attend the session. The two are set to appear later at an upper house committee on the same day that starts at 1 p.m.
The move was initiated by the main opposition party, which criticized the BOJ for last month’s rate increase on grounds that it contributed to the yen’s surge and a rout in stocks. Ueda said after the decision that the BOJ would keep raising the policy rate if its outlook for prices and growth materializes.
Following the July rate hike, the yen rebounded sharply as expectations grew for additional BOJ rate increases and concerns over the US economy mounted. Japanese equity benchmarks sustained their worst fall since 1987. The markets regained some stability after Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida last week pledged not to hike the rate when markets are unstable.
The BOJ has come under fire for its rate hike timing, while some economists have pointed out that Uchida’s comments also deviate from the central bank’s hitherto data-dependent stance by linking market conditions to policy decisions.
--With assistance from Jon Herskovitz.
(Updates with details on commiitee hearings in paragraph two, background in last paragraph.)
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