Japan panel invites inflation expert, economists to special sessions -minister

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Japanese government's top economic policy panel will invite eight economists, including an expert on inflation in Japan, to its upcoming special sessions to discuss the country's long-term policies, Economy Minister Shigeyuki Goto said on Friday.

The special meetings of the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy will invite University of Tokyo professor Tsutomu Watanabe, a former Bank of Japan (BOJ) official known for his analysis of Japan's price trends and monetary policy responses, among others.

Goto told a news conference that the sessions were not meant to discuss the BOJ's exit strategy from monetary easing or craft a new policy accord between the BOJ and the government.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last month announced the plan to convene the sessions to stimulate discussions into how to achieve a "virtuous cycle" of growth and distribution, before the government compiles its annual mid-year policy blueprint in the summer.

(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim)