The approval rating for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s newly reshuffled cabinet rose to 53 percent in a Kyodo News poll, while many respondents said a planned temporary consumption tax cut would have little effect on their daily lives amid inflation.
The nationwide telephone survey, conducted over two days on Thursday and Friday, came after Takaichi reshuffled both her cabinet and the executive of her ruling Liberal Democratic Party for the first time since taking office in October last year, retaining many members of her top team.
It showed the cabinet approval rating rising 3.2 percentage points from August’s survey to 53.4 percent, while the disapproval rating stood at 30.9 percent.
Regarding a planned cut to the consumption tax on food and beverages from 8 percent to 1 percent for two years from April next year, 63.1 percent said they expect it to have only a “small” effect on easing inflation’s impact on households.
Conversely, 30.2 percent said they expect the policy to have a “large” effect.
The cut is expected to be debated during the fall extraordinary Diet session and may face opposition amid concerns over how it will be funded and its impact on Japan’s fiscal health. Takaichi is seeking to ramp up fiscal spending to strengthen the economy.
