Ruling Camp Sets Supplementary Budget at W29 Tln

The ruling camp yesterday decided to set the supplementary budget at 29 trillion won (20.8 billion U.S. dollars).

The presidential office and the ruling Grand National Party made the decision at a meeting in Seoul with senior government and party officials, including Prime Minister Han Seung-soo and party leader Park Hee-tae.

A party spokesman told a news briefing that the two sides agreed on the role of fiscal policy in creating jobs and stabilizing the people’s livelihood, adding the extra budget will reach 29 trillion won.

The extra budget will likely create 550,000 jobs, and if the complementary budget raise economic growth 1.5 percentage points and deregulation and expanded private investment come as expected, the spokesman said this year’s growth rate could rise one or two percentage points higher than expected.

Four trillion (2.8 billion dollars) to 4.5 trillion won (3.2 billion dollars) will be spent on stabilizing the livelihood of low-income households; three trillion (2.1 billion dollars) to 3.5 trillion won (2.5 billion dollars) on job creation; 2.5 trillion (1.7 billion dollars) to three trillion won on reinvigorating provincial economies; and two trillion (1.4 billion dollars) to 2.5 trillion won on future growth.

The government will finalize the extra budget plan at a Cabinet meeting today before submitting it to the National Assembly for approval.

rews@donga.com