Fifty-four percent of the public do not appreciate the “Abenomics” economic policy mix promoted by the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, topping the 33 percent who appreciate the measure, a recent Mainichi Shimbun poll indicates.
The nationwide poll, conducted on April 16 and 17, also asked respondents about a planned consumption tax hike from the current 8 percent to 10 percent, slated for April next year. Altogether, 59 percent of respondents were opposed to the move while 31 percent supported it.
The support rate for the Abe Cabinet climbed to 44 percent, up 2 percentage points from the previous survey in March, while the disapproval rate remained at 38 percent.
In a previous poll conducted in March 2014, 54 percent of pollees said they had “expectations” for Prime Minister Abe’s economic measures, outnumbering those who didn’t, at 42 percent. Though the survey question was different from the one in the latest survey, the results of the two polls show there is a growing sense of disappointment among the public toward Abenomics.
Among supporters of the Abe Cabinet, 62 percent of respondents appreciated Abenomics, while 24 percent didn’t. In contrast, 85 percent of non-supporters of the Abe Cabinet didn’t appreciate the economic policy.
