As speculation grows over the timing of the next general election, Prime Minister Taro Aso began moving Saturday toward holding it in early August, coalition sources said.

On Saturday night, Aso met with Hiroyuki Hosoda, the secretary general of his Liberal Democratic Party, to discuss election matters. What they concluded was not immediately clear.

"It is almost certain that Prime Minister Aso will dissolve the Lower House sometime in July. I would like to ask him whether he plans to dissolve the chamber soon or wait for various bills to be passed," Hosoda told reporters in Nara Prefecture before the meeting.