TOKYO -- Nearly a majority of the Japanese public thinks the Bank of Japan should cease its ultraloose monetary policy, Nikkei has learned in its latest survey, as 46% wish for the policy to end while 36% favor the BOJ maintaining its approach.
The central bank decided Friday to continue pushing its ultraloose policy after a two-day meeting of policy board members. The BOJ's long-held stance is intended to support the economy, but the widening gap between Japan's low interest rates and those in the U.S. and Europe has driven the yen to a 24-year low.
The survey also found that 64% of respondents cannot tolerate Japan's recent inflation, caused by rising commodity prices and the cheaper yen -- which generally makes imported products more expensive. Meanwhile, 29% said they can tolerate it, in the weekend poll conducted with TV Tokyo.
Of those who said they could not tolerate the current inflation, 53% wanted the BOJ to halt the ultraloose policy.
The approval rating for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's cabinet sank to 60%, from 66% during the previous survey in May. Yet this rating remains higher than the 59% figure for the cabinet when it debuted in October. But those saying they do not approve climbed to 32%, the highest for Kishida's cabinet.
The proportion of respondents who do not approve of the government's counter-inflation measures rose to 69%, 8 percentage points higher than in the May survey. Only 21% approve of the measures, falling from 28% in May.
Ahead of Japan's upper house parliamentary election set for July 10, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party held the highest approval rating among political parties, with 45%. The LDP had 51% approval in May.
The Japan Innovation Party, or Nippon Ishin no Kai, followed with 8%. The center-left Constitutional Democratic Party, the country's main opposition party, came in third with 7%. But 25% of respondents said they support no particular party.
The survey was conducted by Nikkei Research from Friday through Sunday, using random-digit dialing to target men and women 18 and older. It drew 912 respondents, for a response rate of 42.9%.