"The good news is the strong victory gives Abe immense political capital to implement his platform,"
- Robert Feldman, head of Japan economic research at Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co.
Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party has won a majority in the upper house, cementing Abe's grip on power, however, raising concerns he can lose interest in difficult economic reforms and shifts in policies to his nationalist agenda instead. Abe's LDP party and his closest ally now have 135 out of 242 seats in the upper house, meeting analysts' expectations, meaning an end of six years of parliamentary deadlock. At the same time a confident victory gives the hawkish Prime Minister a stronger mandate for his three-arrowed strategy, also known as "Abenomics", aimed at reviving economic growth from its 15-year bout of deflation and weak capital inflows.
The 58-year old Abe, who returned to power after a big win in December's lower house elections, reiterated that his priority is still the improvement in the economy, which is possible to achieve by implementing ultra-loose monetary policy, fiscal spending and growth strategy, which includes necessary structural reforms. Measures introduced by the government and the Bank of Japan are already contributing to the economic growth, as improvement is seen in all sectors, including a rise in wages, stronger consumption and bigger investments.
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