TOKYO -- The Bank of Japan should "maintain the current course" of monetary easing, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a debate Tuesday, signaling that he will stand by a policy that rivals criticize as contributing to the yen's dramatic fall.

Nine party leaders, including Kishida, who leads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, participated in the discussion ahead of next month's upper house election. The debate centered on inflation and the economy, which accounted for half the questions asked.

Though raising interest rates would shore up the yen, it also would "have a major impact on the economy, such as small and midsize business [borrowing] costs and mortgages," Kishida said.

"Monetary policy needs to be decided by looking at the whole picture," he said, adding that "now is not the time to alter it."

The prime minister acknowledged that the yen's slump to a 24-year low against the dollar "is something we should be concerned about," noting that the Finance Ministry, the Financial Services Agency and the Bank of Japan all share the concern.

Rather than changing monetary policy, Kishida proposed targeted measures, including fiscal spending, to lower energy and food prices.

"It's important to focus policy on energy and food," he said, noting that more than 60% of Japan's current inflation comes from the former and over 20% from the latter. The prime minister had announced plans for a reward points system to encourage energy conservation just before the debate.

Some in the opposition called for suspending or temporarily reducing the consumption tax, a measure that Kishida said he is not considering.

"It's been positioned as a stable source of social security funding," he said, adding that costs for those programs have grown by 20% over the past decade.

Kishida expressed support for restarting idled nuclear plants while emphasizing a "focus on safety," as Japan eyes nuclear power as a potentially important way to rein in soaring energy costs. He was also asked about building new facilities or expanding existing ones but did not give a specific answer.