Japan voters dissatisfied with PM’s price policies: poll

MORE than three quarters of Japanese voters are unhappy with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s handling of price rises, according to a poll carried out by the Asahi newspaper.

About 77 per cent of respondents to the survey carried out Sept 16-17 said they didn’t rate his price policies positively, compared with 17 per cent who said they did. The findings came in a poll that showed that overall support for Kishida’s cabinet had crept up by four percentage points to 37 per cent following last week’s cabinet reshuffle. 

Price rises have been outpacing wage increases, meaning households are feeling the pinch. That’s weighing on Kishida’s approval ratings as he faces a decision on whether to call a general election a year ahead of a party leadership vote. 

Kishida has sought to ease the blow by extending subsidies on petrol, electricity and household gas, a move approved of by 73 per cent of respondents to the Asahi survey.

The poll is the latest in a series to show lackluster support for Kishida’s cabinet after the reshuffle in which he kept his core economic policy team in place and increased the number of women ministers. BLOOMBERG