Abe plans to carry out the cabinet and party leadership reshuffles on Aug. 3, informed sources said.

Asked by reporters in Stockholm if key cabinet ministers such as Finance Minister Taro Aso, who doubles as deputy prime minister, and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga will be replaced, Abe suggested that they will stay on, saying, "The core framework of the cabinet should not be altered frequently."

Aso and Suga have been pivots in Abe's current administration since it was launched in December 2012, when the LDP ousted the then Democratic Party of Japan, now the Democratic Party, to win back power for the first time in some three years in a general election.

The prime minister, also LDP president, stressed that "producing results" is the only way to regain public confidence in his administration and the LDP amid the falling cabinet approval rating following the party's stunning defeat in the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election on July 2.

"I'm determined to keep putting priority on economic policy management," he said, explaining the reason for the envisaged reshuffles of the cabinet and the LDP leadership. "Abenomics policy, particularly structural reform, should be propelled further," he said, stressing his intention to attach importance to promoting work style reforms and ensuring equal education opportunity, among other things.

Abe said that he plans to pick experienced lawmakers who have achieved results and people capable of pushing through reforms.

Abe showed a less aggressive stance on constitutional amendments.

Although Abe had called on the LDP to submit its revision plan during an extraordinary parliamentary session expected to be held in the autumn, he told reporters that discussions at the party need to be deepened before the submission.

Abe also said he is not thinking about breaking up the House of Representatives, the powerful lower chamber of the Diet, Japan's parliament, for a snap election, noting, "There are many other things that we should tackle immediately."

Meanwhile, Abe said he will return to Japan on Tuesday, one day earlier than scheduled, by canceling a trip to Estonia, to deal with the ongoing rain disaster in the southwestern Japan region of Kyushu. (Jiji Press)