Abe Gets Yellow Card for Growth Strategy, Ex-BOJ Director Says

Financial markets may put more pressure on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to revive Japan’s economy, after his disappointing growth plan pushed stocks to a two-month low and the yen higher, a former Bank of Japan official said.

“For now it’s just a yellow card but it’s possible there will be a red card and stocks will decline more,” Hideo Hayakawa, 58, a former BOJ executive director who oversaw the financial system until March. “His failure to announce a solid growth strategy triggered these market reactions and the question is whether he will properly acknowledge this fact,” Hayakawa, who is now a senior executive fellow at Fujitsu Research Institute, said in an interview in Tokyo on June 7.