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Japan’s parliament formally approved acting Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa as the central bank’s permanent head on Wednesday, bringing to a close a political impasse that had left the post vacant since last month.

The backing for Shirakawa, Japan’s youngest BOJ governor in 50 years, came as the central bank kept its main policy rate on hold at 0.5 percent, as expected.

Approval comes in time for the 58-year-old governor to fly to Washington for a meeting of G7 finance leaders on Friday that will seek ways to ease the global credit crisis.

Shirakawa won approval in both houses of parliament, including the upper chamber controlled by opposition lawmakers, but the government’s candidate for deputy governor, former finance ministry official Hiroshi Watanabe, was rejected.

That veto by the upper house leaves the central bank’s policy board with two vacancies and the potential for further wrangling over who should fill those posts.

Financial markets are more focused on U.S no fax payday loans. economic problems than the BOJ leadership, but analysts see Shirakawa, who won parliamentary approval last month to be deputy governor, as a realistic choice to end the three-week gap at the top of the BOJ.

There was frustration, though, that a broader policy stalemate between the government and the opposition Democratic party had delayed decisions on the central bank leadership.

“Everyone’s pretty much fed up. At least they now have a BOJ governor to go to the G7,” said Katsuhiko Kodama, a senior strategist at Toyo Securities Co Ltd. “It’s all rather embarrassing.” 

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