Monday, January 14, 2013

Japan voters back PM Abe's efforts to spur growth, beat deflation

TOKYO (Reuters) - More than two thirds of Japanese voters support Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet, a media survey published on Monday showed, with many of them praising his efforts to battle deflation and stimulate the economy.

Abe took office last month after his conservative Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) landslide election victory on December 16, promising to revive the world's third-biggest economy with bold monetary easing and big spending by the debt-laden government.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (rear C, yellow tie) and his cabinet ministers hold the first cabinet meeting of the year at Abe's official residence in Tokyo January 8, 2013, in this picture provided by Kyodo. Buoyed by a December election landslide, Abe is rolling out a comprehensive PR strategy mixing Facebook, public appearances and policy announcements to prop up voter ratings ahead of a crucial July poll in an effort to avoid becoming just the latest of the country's short-term leaders. Cameras were allowed to film the start of the New Year's first cabinet meeting in the room where ministers deliberate - rather than just the traditional photograph of them sitting stiffly in an ante-room. Picture taken January 8, 2013. Mandatory Credit REUTERS/Kyodo

Support for Abe's cabinet stood at 68 percent, the Yomiuri newspaper's latest survey showed, up from 65 percent in a previous poll taken shortly after he took office.

The survey was taken over the weekend after Abe's cabinet approved on Friday $117 billion (72.4 billion pounds) spending to stimulate growth, bringing a total stimulus package to 20.2 trillion yen (140.4 billion pounds) including spending by local governments and private-sector firms.

Sixty-six percent of those surveyed supported Abe's policy of boosting coordination with the Bank of Japan and placing more emphasis on economic growth.

But people were split over Abe's energy policy, with 44 percent in favour of a plan to restart off-line nuclear reactors that are confirmed safe and 46 percent opposed, according to the poll.

Nuclear energy has been a particularly emotive issue since the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear energy plant triggered by an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

The poll also found showed that 37 percent of respondents would vote for the LDP in the proportional representation stage of an upper house election expected in July, compared with 16 percent for the Japan Restoration Party and 8 percent for the Democratic Party of Japan.

(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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Monday, January 14, 2013

Japan voters back PM Abe's efforts to spur growth, beat deflation