Japan's upper house of parliament approved on Monday Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's choice of two like-minded monetary doves to join the central bank board, a move that could influence its decision on the timing and pace of further interest rate hikes. The approval follows that by the lower house on March 19, paving the way for academics Toichiro Asada and Ayano Sato to join the nine-member board. Both of them are seen by markets as strong advocates of loose monetary and fiscal policy. Asada would replace economist Asahi Noguchi, whose term ends on March 31. Sato would replace Junko Nakagawa, whose term expires at ... (full story)