BOJ's Kuroda warns against policies unwinding free trade

JAPAN-ECONOMY-BOJ-KURODA

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Thursday it was inappropriate to take policies against free trade and globalism that have brought prosperity to many advanced and emerging economies.

"The global economy made great strides by consistently promoting free trade since the end of World War Two," Kuroda said upon arrival in Washington for the Group of 20 finance leaders' gathering and the International Monetary Fund meetings.

"My belief is that a multilateral framework promoting free trade will continue. There won't be huge changes to that," he said.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)