It is possible that Japan may – finally – achieve a stronger economy if the country’s central bank loosens monetary policy to boost growth from its current lethargic state, according to Tim Gregory, head of global equities at Psigma, the UK asset manager.

In an article for his weblog, Gregory argues that Japanese opposition politician Shinzo Abe, elected to leadership of the Liberal Democrats in September, wants the Bank of Japan to follow strategies such as quantitative easing. (Abe is also known for taking a hard line on issues such as Japan’s often tense relations with China.)

Japanese national elections are due to be held on 16 December, another major economic power, besides the US, France and China, to have held leadership tussles this year. (China’s process, of course, was not democratic.)

But a worry for investors has been the repeated number of false dawns in Japan over the past couple of decades, said Gregory.

“Such has been the agony of being a long-term bull of Japanese equities in recent years that market strategists who have been brave enough to put their head above the parapet have almost become too terrified of recommending being long of the Nikkei again for fear of being wrong yet again,” he wrote.

“Every time Japan has looked to be on the brink of a turn for the better it feels like events have conspired to spoil the party and sent stocks into a tailspin and left strategists with egg on their face. The Livedoor scandal in 2006, the tragic Tsunami and nuclear accident in March 2011 and more recently the dispute with China over the sovereignty of islands nobody outside of Asia had ever previously heard of, have all conspired to kill off any attempt at a sustained bull market for the Nikkei in what feels like an eternity,” Gregory continued.

Recent economic data has been alarming, he said, noting that Japanese GDP shrank by an annualised 3.5 per cent in the three months through September. The strong Japanese yen has also hit earnings (given the importance of exports from Japan).

“It appears that Mr Abe will push existing executives of the BOJ to dance to his tune and should they refuse they will face the prospect of being replaced by people who will,” Gregory said.

Gregory added that opinion polls point to a win for Abe in the December elections, and that the politician will be supported by the reformist Osaka mayor, Toru Hashimoto.

“As a result, Japanese stocks have rallied sharply from the abject misery of mid-November to suddenly being up over 10 per cent year to date. Crucial to that rally has been the move of the dollar to above 82c against the yen, following a prolonged period in the high 70’s that has tortured the very best Japanese companies,” he added.