Increase of 6.9258 trillion won compared to this year
Korean New Deal 2.3685 trillion won...Significant increase
Over 1 trillion won increase in land and transport safety budget
Housing benefit budget confirmed at 1.9879 trillion won
Metropolitan and urban railways, GTX...Proceeding without delays
[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 2nd that the budget proposal and fund operation plan under its jurisdiction for next year have been finalized at 57.0575 trillion won, an increase of 6.9258 trillion won compared to this year, through the National Assembly plenary session resolution.
During the National Assembly review process, the budget increased by 463.6 billion won compared to the government's proposal of 23.1348 trillion won, while the housing and urban fund was cut by 131 billion won from the government's proposal of 33.5901 trillion won.
Among the budget, social overhead capital (SOC) expenditures rose significantly to 21.4994 trillion won, compared to 18.7 trillion won this year.
Specifically, to build infrastructure responding to social and economic changes amid the COVID-19 crisis, the Korean New Deal budget was drastically increased from 1.2865 trillion won this year to 2.3685 trillion won next year.
The public building green remodeling budget was set at 227.6 billion won, and the public rental green remodeling budget at 364.5 billion won. The SOC smartization budget, which improves management and prediction accuracy of major facilities, was also increased from 814 billion won to 1.4974 trillion won.
The logistics infrastructure support budget was significantly increased from 6.2 billion won this year to 31.9 billion won next year, expected to enable improvements to outdated logistics centers and expansion of private logistics center investments.
The safety budget for the land and transport sector, which is invested in strengthening aging SOC safety and disaster/accident preparedness, rose by more than 1 trillion won to 5.8884 trillion won compared to this year.
In particular, during the National Assembly review process, a new budget of 113.2 billion won was allocated to support the replacement of urban railway electric cars that have exceeded their service life.
Next year, budgets for fostering regional hubs and establishing trunk transportation networks were increased to revitalize depressed regions.
First, a budget of 400.7 billion won was confirmed for next year to actively promote the 15 projects exempted from preliminary feasibility studies (National Balanced Development Projects) announced last January.
The urban regeneration project budget for improving deteriorated downtown and living environments expanded from 777.7 billion won this year to 868 billion won next year.
The budget to strengthen residential conditions supporting the settlement of innovation cities nationwide also rose significantly from 15.7 billion won to 77.2 billion won.
On the afternoon of the 2nd, a plenary session was held in the National Assembly main chamber to process the 2021 budget bill and other matters. (Photo by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport)
To support vulnerable groups suffering from economic downturn, budgets and funds were increased focusing on housing benefits and expansion of public housing supply.
The housing benefit budget was confirmed at 1.9879 trillion won, an increase of 357.4 billion won from 1.6305 trillion won, in response to the increase in beneficiaries.
In the public housing sector, housing and urban fund investments were set at 19.7803 trillion won next year to ensure the smooth achievement of the housing welfare roadmap.
Housing and urban fund investments related to low-interest loans for jeonse (long-term deposit lease), monthly rent, and home purchase funds to alleviate the housing cost burden of non-homeowners were confirmed at 9.9 trillion won.
Construction of metropolitan and urban railways, GTX (Great Train Express), metropolitan bus rapid transit (BRT), and transfer centers to save travel time in metropolitan areas will also be steadily promoted.
The budget for metropolitan railways including GTX-A line, Sinansan Line, Byeollae Line, Jinjeop Line, and urban railways such as Seoul’s Sillim Line, Dongbuk Line, and Gwangju Urban Railway Line 2 increased from 917.1 billion won this year to 1.2315 trillion won next year.
Next year, 14.1 billion won will be invested in constructing five metropolitan BRT lines, and 18.4 billion won will be allocated to five projects including the basic plan for GTX stations and transfer centers.
The metropolitan bus quasi-public operation project budget increased to 4.05 billion won next year, and the budget supporting bus routes in remote areas also rose to 33.9 billion won.
Jung Kyung-hoon, Director of Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "We will do our best to ensure prompt execution so that the 2021 budget confirmed by the National Assembly can restore vitality to the regional economy and make the land safer."
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