BOJ appoints monetary policy expert Masaki to oversee global affairs

By Leika Kihara

TOKYO, May 11 (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan said on Monday it appointed Kazuhiro Masaki, a veteran career central banker with expertise on monetary policy, as executive director overseeing its international affairs.

Masaki, who has extensive experience drafting monetary policy, assumed the position on Saturday. He would lead the BOJ's research on the global economy and liaison with its central bank counterparts including at G7 and G20 meetings.

He succeeded Seiichi Shimizu, who would stay on as special adviser at the central bank until May 21.

Kenji Fujita, currently an executive handling personnel affairs at the BOJ, succeeded Masaki as head of the central bank's Osaka branch.

Koji Nakamura has retained his role as executive director in charge of monetary affairs.

The regular personnel reshuffle comes at a critical time for the BOJ, which is eyeing further increases to its still-low interest rates as mounting inflationary pressures from the Middle East conflict muddle the policy outlook.

There are currently six executive directors at the BOJ, whose role during their four-year term is to assist the board on various matters.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Sam Holmes)