Living costs in Japan continue to rise, while the high public approval rating has dropped significantly

(Tokyo News) Various public opinion polls conducted by different Japanese media have shown that the popularity rating of the government led by Prime Minister Takemiya Akemi has dropped to its lowest level since she took office nine months ago. This highlights that the continuous increase in living costs has eroded the support for the government of Prime Minister Takemiya.

A poll conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun from July 24th to 26th showed that the support rate for the Takayama Cabinet dropped to 57%, a 12-percentage-point decline from 69% in June. This is also the first time since she took office in late October last year that it has fallen below 60%.

The proportion of the public dissatisfied with the government's policies has risen from 21% in June to 34%. The respondents were particularly dissatisfied with the government's measures to deal with the increase in living costs, with the proportion reaching 71%, significantly higher than 56% in June.

A poll jointly conducted by the Nikkei Shimbun and Tokyo Television last week also showed that Koishi's approval rating had dropped by 10 percentage points to 58%.

The results of the poll conducted by Kyodo News last week also showed that the support rate for the Takayama Cabinet had dropped to 53.7%, a decrease of 2.1 percentage points.

Inflation is a major concern for the Japanese people. Due to the fuel subsidies provided by the Japanese government, the core consumer inflation rate in June remained below the 2% target set by the Bank of Japan for the fifth consecutive month. However, analysts predict that as production costs continue to rise and spread to a wider range of economic sectors, the core inflation rate will rise above 2% later this year.

Koishi defended the government's policies in the parliament on Monday (July 27th), saying that the measures taken by the government to enhance the country's economic growth potential would strengthen market confidence in the yen. She also denied the claim that the weak yen had pushed up living costs or undermined the government's popularity.

She said that the exchange rate is influenced by various factors and is determined by the market. It is difficult to determine whether it is directly affected by a specific factor. "However, by enhancing growth potential and competitiveness to build a strong economy, it will help boost market confidence in the yen."

Koizumi tended to adopt expansionary fiscal and monetary policies. It is generally believed that this led to a sharp increase in bond yields and caused the yen exchange rate to drop to its lowest level in 40 years. The market pressure and the opposition voices within the ruling party also prevented the Koizumi government from making a decision on reducing the consumption tax on food.

Reducing the food consumption tax was one of the main promises made by Koishi during his election campaign to alleviate the hardships of the people. The Koishi government plans to reduce the food consumption tax from the current 8% to 1% by April next year and aims to finalize the plan by the earliest in August this year. However, the ruling party and the opposition party have still not reached a consensus on the specific measures.

Yamamoto Shunji, the chief market economist at Daiwa Securities, said: "Compared with previous governments, Koike's approval rating remains relatively high, so it cannot be said that her political foundation has been undermined. However, it is equally undeniable that the huge political capital she gained from the election victory is gradually being depleted."