REFILE-FACTBOX-Bank of Japan nominees: profiles and comments

(For more on the search for a new BOJ head, click [ID:nT55777]) (Refiles to add missing word in paragraph 15)

March 7 (Reuters) - The Japanese government nominated on Friday deputy central bank governor Toshiro Muto as the next head of the Bank of Japan, despite the threat of a veto by opposition lawmakers who control parliament's upper house.

A political wrangle over the nomination has dented the government's credibility and raised fears of a policy vacuum at the Bank of Japan when the current governor, Toshihiko Fukui, retires in less than two weeks.

Following are profiles of the government's nominees for the BOJ leadership, and some recent policy comments they have made:

TOSHIRO MUTO, 64

A BOJ deputy governor since 2003, Muto spent nearly 37 years in the Ministry of Finance and was vice finance minister before leaving to join the central bank.

Muto, long seen as heir apparent to Fukui, has worked closely with him. In policy speeches, Muto has rarely strayed from the central bank's standard line.

"Looking at the global economy, various downside risks exist. There are also uncertainties arising from the U.S. economy and global financial markets. Having said that, we have not fundamentally changed our main economic scenario," Muto said in January. "As that's the case, we are not thinking of changing our basic stance on monetary policy." [ID:nT203374]

Some say Muto is less hawkish than Fukui, and he might be more likely to cut rates in the face of growing fears of a U.S. recession and slower growth at home.