Supplementary Budget of 10 Trillion Won Deficit Bonds Planned
Budget Bill Submitted to National Assembly on 4th... Democratic Party to Disburse by End of Month
Opposition: "National Assembly Is Not a Subcontractor for Blue House or Government"
Rushing Payments for Election Is Not the People's Duty
Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun is delivering a policy speech on the supplementary budget bill for the 4th disaster relief fund payment at the National Assembly plenary session on the 5th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] The government and the ruling party aim to distribute the 4th disaster relief fund by the end of March, but the opposition party's announcement of a meticulous review is expected to make actual approval difficult.
According to the National Assembly and the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 7th, the size of the COVID-19 damage support budget this time is 19.5 trillion won. Of this, 4.5 trillion won is an existing budget and is excluded, and 15 trillion won will be secured through a supplementary budget (supplementary budget). Since the government did not allocate this budget in advance, the budget must be revised. The 15 trillion won supplementary budget is the third largest ever. The government plans to issue deficit bonds worth up to 10 trillion won to secure the funds.
The government submitted the supplementary budget bill containing this information to the National Assembly on the 4th. On the 5th, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun delivered a policy speech. The Democratic Party of Korea plans to hold a plenary session on the 18th to quickly pass the supplementary budget bill. It is expected that payments will begin at the end of this month after going through each standing committee of the National Assembly and the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts.
However, the People Power Party is preparing to thoroughly review the supplementary budget bill. They argue that the disaster relief fund, which was prepared again before the 3rd disaster relief fund payments were completed and before the main budget was properly executed, is a hasty supplementary budget prepared for the April by-elections.
Kim Jong-in, the emergency committee chairman of the People Power Party, said at the emergency meeting on the 2nd, "There is no concrete plan or criteria for how the 4th support fund will be distributed," and criticized, "Suddenly starting discussions on the 4th disaster relief fund before the by-elections and hastily distributing it, but government budgets are taxes paid by the people."
Joo Ho-young, the floor leader, also emphasized, "The president and the Democratic Party have no answer on how to repay the debt even if they distribute money," adding, "It is practically no different from vote-buying. The people must be awakened to the ruling party’s vote-buying act that ignores the national treasury."
Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Hong Nam-ki is greeting Choo Kyung-ho, the budget and accounts committee whip of the People Power Party, before the start of the subcommittee meeting of the Budget and Accounts Committee held at the National Assembly on the 23rd. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@
On the 5th, Choo Kyung-ho, the ranking member of the National Assembly’s Budget and Accounts Committee from the People Power Party, said at a press conference, "Under the current government alone, the national debt has increased by about 340 trillion won, surpassing the increase during the 10 years of the Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye administrations, and the national debt ratio has exceeded 50%, reaching about 53%, signaling a warning for fiscal soundness," adding, "Instead of issuing deficit bonds to finance the supplementary budget, the supplementary budget funds should be secured through painful expenditure restructuring of the existing main budget of 558 trillion won."
He continued, "This supplementary budget is a sloppy and poorly planned supplementary budget with unclear COVID-19 support principles and criteria, hastily prepared as a vote-buying cash handout aimed at the April election."
After the press conference, Choo told reporters, "The National Assembly is not a subcontractor of the Blue House or the government," adding, "The government and ruling party have been discussing for a month and a half and then came to the National Assembly, but we now have to receive materials and review them." He also added, "The election schedule is unrelated to the National Assembly’s Budget and Accounts Special Committee review, and rushing the schedule for the election is not a duty to the people."
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