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BOJ Leadership Race Lacks Female Front-Runners as Japan Lags on Gender Equality

  • Top brass shift is chance for Japan to show diversity progress
  • Economists expect first female deputy governor in BOJ history
Bloomberg business news
WATCH: Japan is getting ready to replace the top leadership of the Bank of Japan. Will a woman finally get one of these jobs? Source: Bloomberg

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida risks reinforcing the view that the country is not serious about addressing gender inequality if women are shut out of the new leadership set to take the helm of the Bank of Japan this spring.

Janet Yellen and Christine Lagarde have demonstrated that being female is no longer an insurmountable barrier to landing the top job at the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. Yet not a single woman’s name is doing the rounds as a potential replacement for Haruhiko Kuroda as central bank governor in the world’s third-largest economy.