Banri Kaieda, a senior Japanese ruling party lawmaker, will become the new economics minister in a planned upcoming cabinet reshuffle, replacing Satoshi Arai, Asahi newspaper said on Friday, according to Reuters. The new minister faces the challenge of supporting a fragile economic recovery at risk from a stronger yen and deflation. Policy options are constrained by huge public debt and interest rates already near zero. Prime Minister Naoto Kan is expected to reshuffle his cabinet later in the day.
