Poll Shows Most Japanese Want BOJ Policy Review on Weak Yen

Isabel Reynolds
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- A poll showed more than half of Japanese want the Bank of Japan’s ultra-easy monetary policy reviewed as the yen struggles close to a three-decade low against the dollar, worsening inflation on essential imports.

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In a national survey carried out Saturday and Sunday, the Mainichi newspaper found 55% of respondents said BOJ policy should be reviewed, 22% said it should not and 22% said they didn’t know. The poll comes as Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has consistently said he will keep his current stance, even as inflation hits its highest levels since 1991.

Disapproval of monetary policy could add to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s woes, as support for his cabinet sinks over a perceived failure to tackle his party’s links with the Unification Church, which has a long list of court judgments against it over its fundraising.

Kishida’s economy minister, Daishiro Yamagiwa, plans to step down from his post after being grilled in parliament about his links to the group, Kyodo News reported, citing a government source it did not identify. The minister had become a lightning rod for criticism in a scandal that has prompted Kishida’s approval rating to plummet.

The poll put support for the Kishida cabinet at 27%, down two percentage points on the previous poll, and in the danger zone under 30% where Japanese leaders are considered at risk of replacement.

While opposition parties have struggled to capitalize on his woes, support for the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party rose slightly to 12%, compared with 24% for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Some 32% of respondents said they didn’t support any party.

Kuroda is expected to keep monetary stimulus unchanged at the end of a two-day BOJ meeting on Friday, according to a poll of 49 analysts.

Kishida, who has been in office for a little more than a year, has so far opted to deal with price rises by intervening in the market to support the yen and providing handouts to combat the effects on households and businesses.

The premier is set to announce details of the latest support package, which is expected to come out this week and include what Kishida has called “unprecedented” help with soaring fuel bills. The government is considering spending more than 20 trillion yen ($134 billion) on the package, Kyodo News said Friday.

Asked about his efforts thus far on inflation, 75% of respondents to the survey said they didn’t rate them highly, while 11% said they approved.

(Updates with report on minister’s resignation in paragraph four.)

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