TOKYO, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in a cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday, retained almost half of his ministers in their current positions although controversially appointed Tomomi Inada, the former head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Policy Research Council, to take on the defense minister portfolio replacing Gen Nakatani.

The reshuffle, following his LDP and its coalition Komeito partner expanding their power base in an upper house election in July, marks Abe's third since he retook power in 2012 and has seen eight of his former 19-member lineup retained in their current roles, including his top spokesperson Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Finance Minister Taro Aso.

The reshuffle has been pitched at underscoring the prime minister's intentions to shore up the nation's stagnant economy via the actualization of the latest installment of his "Abenomics" blend of economic policies and comes on the heels of the approval of a 28.1 trillion yen (277.74 billion U.S. dollar) stimulus package a day earlier.

However, the appointment of Tomomi Inada, the former head of the LDP's Policy Research Council, as defense minister, replacing Gen Nakatani, was made due to Abe's ongoing push to expand the operational scope of the nation's Self-Defense Forces, observers have said.