Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga dismissed speculation Sunday that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may dissolve the House of Representatives for a general election by the end of the year.

Abe "is not thinking about it at all," the top government spokesman said on NHK, dismissing claims by some ruling and opposition lawmakers that Abe would go to the polls while support for his Cabinet remains relatively high.

The new Cabinet assembled Wednesday by Abe "has just started and has a lot of work to do," Suga said.

The Cabinet's approval rating has risen to 54.9 percent since the reshuffle, a Kyodo News survey found, up from 49.8 percent in the previous poll in early August.