Next Year's Budget Proposal 558 Trillion Won... 2.2 Trillion Won Increase Compared to Government Plan

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] The National Assembly will hold a plenary session at 8 p.m. on the 2nd to process next year's budget bill. The ruling and opposition parties agreed to process a budget of 558 trillion won for next year. This amount is 2.2 trillion won more than the original government proposal of 555.8 trillion won, and the national debt also increased by 3.5 trillion won compared to the government proposal.

The Democratic Party of Korea held a press briefing on the "2021 Budget Achievements" in the afternoon and announced these details. The increase was mainly made in the budget for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). The ruling and opposition parties agreed to increase 3 trillion won for customized COVID-19 damage support and 900 billion won for COVID-19 vaccine purchases.

In addition, 700 billion won was additionally allocated for housing stability, 300 billion won for climate change response, and 300 billion won each for employment stability and care support.

Design costs of 11.7 billion won for the construction of the National Assembly Sejong Office Building were also included in this revised budget bill.

Usually, the budget bill is submitted to the plenary session after approval by the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Committee, but since the committee's activity period ended on the 30th of last month, the government proposal is automatically submitted to the plenary session.