National Assembly passes W100.22 tril. budget bill for 2001

The National Assembly's budget and accounts committee held a plenary session Tuesday at which it passed the New Year's draft budget valued at 100.22 trillion won, a reduction of 805.4 billion won from the government¡¯s original budget bill.

The draft budget was fixed after cutting 2.66 trillion won, including 946.3 billion won in reserves such as expenditures for countermeasures against natural disaster, and 564 billion won in interest on national bonds, from the government¡¯s original bill, and adding 1.85 trillion won, including 910.1 billion won for social overhead capital investments.

However, lawmakers of the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) and the Grand National Party (GNP) protested the bill, arguing that leading lawmakers and members of the budget committee increased the regional budget in an unfair manner, resulting in a heavier burden on the people. Owing to their strong protests, the budget committee was suspended at one point.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly held a meeting of its administrative and consultative committee Tuesday and passed a bill for the revision of the governmental organization law. The law calls for a promotion in the status of the minister of finance and economy and minister of education to vice premiers, the creation of the Ministry of Women's Affairs, and the transfer of the management of the Korea Racing Association from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.

The GNP opposed the promotion in the status of minister of education to vice premier and submitted a revised draft bill. The MDP¡¯s revised draft bill was finally passed after voting.