BOJ's Suda: need for unconventional policies fading

Nagasaki, JAPAN, Sept 9 - Bank of Japan board member Miyako Suda said on Wednesday the role of the bank's unconventional steps aimed at easing credit strains is lessening as corporate financing conditions improve.

"We should not underestimate the drawbacks of the unconventional measures," Suda said in a speech to business leaders in Nagasaki, southern Japan.

A former economics professor, Suda is seen as holding hawkish views on monetary policy.

She was the sole opponent of the BOJ's decision in January to buy corporate bonds from banks, arguing that such a step would do little to ease credit strains brought about by the global financial crisis.

The BOJ has cut interest rates to near zero and taken various unconventional steps to support corporate financing, such as buying commercial paper and corporate bonds from banks.

Many market players expect the bank to extend the programmes beyond their current expiry date in December, and keep interest rates at 0.1 percent at least until March 2011.