TOKYO, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- The approval rating for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet decreased to 53 percent, down 2.4 percent compared to the previous poll in September, as the consumption tax hike last week remains a concern regarding the economic outlook, a poll conducted by Kyodo News revealed Sunday.
According to the nationwide telephone poll conducted over the weekend, the disapproval rating for the cabinet stood at 34.2 percent, up 8.5 points from last month.
The poll showed that 70.9 percent of the respondents said they are either "worried" or "worried to a certain extent" about a possible negative impact on the economy from the tax hike to 10 percent from 8 percent on Oct. 1.
Abe's government raised the tax for the first time since April 2014, to tackle swelling social security costs resulting from the country's aging population and falling birthrate.
According to the survey, 43.4 percent said they viewed the tax increase positively while 49.4 percent did not.
The government introduced the two-tier rate system for the consumption tax for the first time, exempting food and beverage items from the increased tax rate in a bid to minimize the potential negative impact on spending. However, it caused some confusion among retailers and consumers.
In the survey, 82.4 percent view the two-rate taxation system as "complicated." Meanwhile, 24.6 percent said they reduced spending while 74.9 percent did not.
