Japan finmin Suzuki says he expects BOJ to keep in close touch with govt

TOKYO, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Friday that he expects the Bank of Japan to guide monetary policy appropriately while keeping close contact with the government.

Suzuki reiterated that monetary policy specifically was up to the BOJ to decide and the government would refrain from commenting. He said he was aware of remarks by Deputy BOJ Governor Shinichi Uchida that accommodative conditions would remain for the time being even if negative interest rates were ditched. (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Leslie Adler)