Japanese PM Takaichi will dissolve parliament on Friday, call election next month

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said she will dissolve parliament on Friday and call a national election to seek voter backing for increased spending and a new security strategy expected to accelerate Japan's defence build-up.

The snap vote will decide all 465 seats in parliament’s lower house and mark Takaichi's first electoral test since becoming Japan's first female premier in October.

Calling an early election would allow her to capitalise on strong public support to tighten her grip on the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and shore up her coalition’s fragile majority.

The election will test voter appetite for higher spending at a time when the rising cost of living is the public's top concern. A poll released by public broadcaster NHK last week found 45% of respondents cited prices as their main worry, followed by diplomacy and national security at 16%.

On Saturday, Takaichi was considering a pledge to suspend the sales tax on food as part of her campaign for a general election next month, the Mainichi newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources.

The government and Takaichi's Liberal Democratic Party will carefully assess the market impact before deciding, as scrapping the 8% levy on food sales would cut government revenue by an estimated 5 trillion yen ($30 billion) a year, the newspaper said in the report late on Friday.

Two LDP lawmakers told Reuters that she is considering holding the election on February 8.