By Makiko Yamazaki
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s top foreign exchange diplomat, Atsushi Mimura, was reappointed for a second year, the finance ministry said on Tuesday, as he remains a vital member of the country’s U.S. tariff negotiations team.
The 58-year-old Mimura will remain vice finance minister for international affairs – a post that oversees Japan’s currency policy and coordinates economic policy with other countries.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato said at a press conference that the ministry sought the reappointment of Mimura as he “has been engaged in trade talks with the United States, led by (Japan’s chief trade negotiator) Ryosei Akazawa, as well as discussions on foreign exchange between me and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.”
While the finance ministry conducts a regular personnel reshuffle every year, it is not rare for the top foreign exchange diplomat post to be served for more than a year.
His predecessor, Masato Kanda, currently the president of the Asian Development Bank, stayed in the post for three years as he combated the yen’s falls to 38-year lows against the dollar with record yen-buying interventions.
(Reporting by Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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