Inflation cuts into Kishida’s support ahead of Japanese Upper House election

Support for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet slid in a series of media surveys carried out over the weekend, as respondents indicated dissatisfaction with his handling of rising prices weeks ahead of an election.

The premier’s support fell 6 percentage points to 60 percent, the lowest since February, in a poll conducted in June 17-19, while the proportion saying they did not support his Cabinet leaped 9 percentage points to 32 percent. About 69 percent of respondents to the survey said they did not approve of his handling of inflation.

Kishida is heading into a campaign for a key Upper House election set to be held July 10.

A strong performance in the vote for the less-powerful of Japan’s two houses would give the Premier as long as three years without the need to face another test at the polls.

A separate poll found support for the Cabinet had fallen 2 percentage points to 49 percent, while a survey published Saturday found a 5 percentage point drop to 48 percent, with about two-thirds of respondents saying they were having trouble making ends meet due to inflation.

Still, opposition parties show little sign of being able to take advantage of the dilemma facing Kishida and his long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party is calling for a rethink of Bank of Japan (BOJ) policy, but only 7 percent of respondents to the survey said they supported the party, flat on the previous month and compared with 45 percent for the LDP.

Japan’s April core inflation rate was 2.1 percent, far below levels seen in the United States, with May figures due to be released on Friday (June 24).

Monetary policy has become an unusual bone of contention in the run-up to the vote, with 46 percent of respondents to the poll conducted in June 17-19 saying the BOJ should not continue its ultra-easy policy, compared with 36 percent saying it should.

The BOJ’s monetary policy divergence from US tightening has accelerated the yen’s nosedive.

Both the government and the BOJ have expressed concern about the currency’s rapid fall and the government has provided handouts for low-income households to try to alleviate the effect of price rises.

Kishida said Sunday that the BOJ should stick to its policy because any rise in interest rates could increase the burden on small and medium-sized businesses.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES