Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda has been hospitalized for medical treatment and will skip the upcoming June 15-16 policy meeting, the country's central bank said on Wednesday.
The central bank is widely expected to raise interest rates next week to levels unseen in three decades to counter mounting inflationary pressures from the Iran war.
It is the first time for the governor, who chairs the BOJ's meeting, to miss a policy-setting meeting since it began deciding policy under the current arrangement in 1998.
The governor will submit a written statement on his view on policy but will not participate in next week's vote, the BOJ said in a statement.
Ueda, 74, is expected to remain in the hospital for about two weeks, getting treatment for an infected liver cyst, working remotely, and attending the next policy meeting from July 30 to 31, the central bank said.
