The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) would respect the Bank of Japan's autonomy and independence in setting interest rates and overseeing other fiscal policies, senior party officials have confirmed.Reuters reports that if the party does snatch victory from the incumbent coalition party, as polls suggest it could, then the Bank of Japan could be freed from the kind of explicit interventions put forward by some members of the ruling party.Katsuya Okada, the opposition's second most senior executive, last month iterated its belief in the independence of the bank and insisted there would be no interference from the DPJ in issues such as setting interest rates."I think the democrats will take a more pragmatic approach to macroeconomics if they come to power," added Hirokata Kusaba, a senior economist at Mizuho Research Institute.At a speech held on Saturday (August 22nd) at the US Federal Reserve bank in Kansas City, the Bank of Japan's governor Masaaki Shirakawa commented that central banks have a responsibility to avoid creating the unfounded perception that interest rates will remain low indefinitely.This is a sentiment that has caused a degree of concern among some members of the incumbent coalition.