By Leika Kihara

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's government is likely to nominate Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda, who has called for pumping more money into the economy, as its next central bank governor, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Monday.

Kuroda, formerly Japan's top currency diplomat, has already been offered the post unofficially by the government, which plans to submit its nominees for three BOJ leadership posts to parliament this week, the paper said.

Kikuo Iwata, an academic known as one of the most vocal advocates of aggressive monetary expansion, is likely to be nominated as deputy BOJ governor, the Nikkei said without citing sources.

The other deputy BOJ governor post will probably be filled by a central banker, most likely BOJ Executive Director Hiroshi Nakaso, who now oversees the central bank's international operations, the paper said.

Kuroda, 68, has been considered a strong candidate to replace current BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa, whose term ends on March 19, because of his extensive experience at the Finance Ministry and in international policy.

He has long called on the BOJ to set an inflation target and pump more money into the economy through purchases of government bonds and risky assets.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Jason Webb)