By Antoni Slodkowski

TOKYO (Reuters – Fumio, the Japanese Prime Minister, will discuss his plans Wednesday for restoring the country’s economic health after a successful election campaign last month in which the Liberal Democratic Party won a strong majority.

Hiroshima’s soft-spoken ex-banker has seen his support rise to 53% after this week’s NHK opinion poll. This is compared to 46% a fortnight ago.

Kishida could benefit from solid ratings and a plan economic stimulus that includes high vaccination rates, few infections, and strong ratings. This would help him to strengthen his position in the party, and avoid the fate of Yoshihide Sugan, who was only one year into his tenure.

The parliament, whose lower chamber is dominated by the LDP and won 261 of the 465 seats on Wednesday, will re-elect Kishida. Given the dominance of Komeito and the junior coalition partner, the LDP in parliament, the vote will be a formality.

Kishida will also be reappointed all except one minister from the former line-up, which he announced last month following his first election to the parliament in response to Suga’s resignation.

The position of foreign minister has been changed. Kishida will replace Toshimitsu Mtegi who was promoted to a top party job with Yoshimasa Hayashi, an LDP heavyweight and former Education Minister.

In line with Kishida’s promise to offer a chance for new people, most of Kishida’s cabinet ministers lack any previous experience in the Cabinet. But, many of Kishida’s important job posts have been given to his allies, conservative ex-premier Shinzo Abe and former finance minister Taro Soo.

The ex-PM will, according to domestic media, take the reins as head of the party’s largest faction. This is a step that would further strengthen conservatives’ position within the LDP, following Abe’s record-length tenure at the top.

After the elections are over, Kishida has set an ambitious agenda for economic stimulus. It could amount to more than 30 trillion Japanese yen (264.7 billion dollars) by Nov. 19. There will also be an additional budget to finance the expenditures before the end of November.

Kishida pledged Tuesday to get the economy back on track, by increasing private sector investment and disposable income in order to create a “virtuous circle” of economic growth as well as wealth distribution.

Kishida stated that he prioritized reviving economic growth as his first priority, and fiscal reform can wait for later.

He stated that he would like to overhaul Japan’s healthcare system and provide booster shots to ensure the country can withstand the next round of COVID-19.

These plans will be laid out at an evening news conference, Japan time.

($1 = 113.3500 yen)