Japan’s ex-top currency diplomat Masato Kanda to become next Asian Development Bank chief

MANILA (Kyodo) — The Asian Development Bank has closed the nomination period for its next president, with Japan’s former top currency diplomat Masato Kanda emerging as the sole candidate, the Manila-based multilateral lender said Thursday.

The ADB’s Board of Governors will vote on Kanda, a special advisor to Japan’s prime minister and Finance Ministry, from Monday through Nov. 27, with the outcome announced the following day, the bank said.

Kanda, 59, will take over Masatsugu Asakawa, another senior official of Japan’s Finance Ministry. Japan has held the chief post of the ADB since its establishment in 1966.

Japan and the United States have been its leading shareholders with 15.6 percent each.

As vice finance minister for international affairs, Kanda played a role in massive market interventions by Japan earlier this year aimed at stemming the yen’s sharp decline against the U.S. dollar and other major currencies. He left the post in July after serving for three years.