Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' Budget and Funds for Next Year Confirmed at 16.3 Trillion Won... 3.2% Increase Compared to This Year

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced that the total expenditure of the budget and funds under its jurisdiction for next year was finalized at 16.2856 trillion won following the National Assembly plenary session approval on the 2nd. This represents an increase of 511.3 billion won (3.2%) compared to this year (15.7743 trillion won).

Considering the changed circumstances since the government proposal, such as the increased need for disaster preparedness due to climate change, the budget was increased in areas including agricultural climate change adaptation, support for agricultural product distribution and market securing, and building sustainable agriculture and rural communities.

First, through cooperation with the National Assembly and the agricultural sector, 19 projects requiring additional reflection at the National Assembly stage, including agricultural disaster insurance and fruit snack support for elementary after-school care classrooms, were increased by 200.6 billion won. The proportion of the agricultural budget relative to the entire national budget in 2021 is 2.9% (with agriculture accounting for 9.1% of the 2.2 trillion won increase in the national budget).

Agricultural disaster insurance received an additional 36.6 billion won, reinsurance funds 100 billion won, repair and maintenance of irrigation facilities 30 billion won, fruit snack support for elementary after-school care classrooms 7.2 billion won, public meal integrated platform construction 700 million won, and rural renewable energy distribution support 1.3 billion won. Among the government proposals, a total of 9 projects (including ▲projects with poor execution ▲reflecting actual demand for 2021 projects) were slightly reduced by 47.4 billion won.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plans to promote key tasks so that agriculture and rural areas can actively respond to socio-economic changes caused by COVID-19 and continue agriculture policies centered on people and the environment. The ministry stated, "We plan to prepare to ensure there are no disruptions in the implementation of projects and budget execution in 2021 by actively communicating with the agricultural sector and local governments to establish project plans."