Taro Aso, the beleaguered Japanese prime minister, yesterday dismissed opposition calls for an early general election, insisting he would not consider dissolving the Diet's lower house until it passed budget legislation intended to boost the economy.

Worries about the social impact of the recession gripping the world's second largest economy have been highlighted during the new year holiday by the sight of hundreds of newly homeless, redundant workers queuing for food in a tent village in a Tokyo city centre park.