Japan govt denies reports on Muto as new BOJ chief

(For more stories on the BOJ governor, click on [ID:nT55777])

TOKYO, Feb 12 (Reuters) - The Japanese government on Tuesday denied media reports that it was about to put forward Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Toshiro Muto as the next central bank chief.

Showing some irritation over the reports, the government's top spokesman said he would in future decline comment on the politically sensitive topic of who the government will nominate as BOJ governor to replace Toshihiko Fukui, who retires on March 19.

"They are absolutely not true," Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura told a news conference when asked about media reports over the weekend that said the government would likely nominate Muto, possibly as early as this Friday.

The government must move carefully on the appointment of a new BOJ governor as its pick could be blocked by opposition parties that control parliament's upper house, giving them veto power.

Machimura noted that a senior upper house lawmaker from the main opposition party, the Democrats, had said the party would take any media reports on the next BOJ governor as a leak from the government and that it would resist such a nomination.

"Given such a condition, I will not answer any questions on the BOJ governor issues from now on," Machimura said.

Muto, whose term as deputy BOJ governor also expires on March 19, is considered by analysts to be the leading contender to succeed Fukui. [ID:nT97234]

The government has previously said it would decide on possible candidates for the next BOJ chief and two deputy governors by mid-February.

The Democratic Party opposed the appointment of Muto, a former finance ministry bureaucrat, as deputy governor back in 2003, as they wanted to end the practice of retired bureaucrats landing jobs associated with their former posts.

Yoshito Sengoku, a lawmaker who heads the Democrats' panel to discuss personnel appointments by parliament, voiced his opposition to Muto on a television programme on Sunday.

But his party has not reached any consensus on who should replace Fukui.

Democratic Party leader Ichiro Ozawa said on Saturday that he had not received any proposal from the government on the BOJ's personnel reshuffle and he believed nothing had been decided yet. (Reporting by Yoko Nishikawa; Editing by Rodney Joyce)