Tokyo: Support for Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's cabinet has edged down by 3.6 percentage points to below 46 per cent from last month, when he took office, a poll showed today.

Aso's approval rating slid to 45.9 per cent from 49.5 per cent in the previous survey conducted immediately after the inauguration of the cabinet last month, according to the poll of 1,820 voters by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.

However, an overwhelming majority of 70 per cent said the government should concentrate on emergency economic policy rather than calling snap general elections, the poll found.

Aso took office on September 24 on a mission to lead the LDP into elections, but his initial approval ratings have underwhelmed some LDP strategists.

LDP leaders are closely watching his poll numbers to see if Aso can gamble by quickly calling a snap election to hold off gains by the opposition, which has seized on public concerns about a weak economy.

Aso has said that his first priority would be not elections but boosting the economy, which is teetering on recession amid global financial turbulence.

Tokyo's benchmark share index last week experienced the worst week in its 50-year history, plunging 24.33 per cent to 8,276.43.

Polls by newspapers last month, issued just two days after Aso took office, found that his government earned an approval rating ranging from 45 to 53 per cent - a leap from his beleaguered predecessor but lower than other recent governments during their first days.
Source : PTI