President Moon and Prime Minister Kim: "Supplementary Budget Support Funds Must Be Spent as Quickly as Possible"

Weekly Meeting

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seonhee] President Moon Jae-in and Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum urged on the 26th to "maximize the speed of execution" regarding the 2nd supplementary budget (supplementary budget) that includes the COVID-19 coexistence national support fund and support for small business owners affected by the pandemic.

According to the Office for Government Policy Coordination, President Moon and Prime Minister Kim held their weekly meeting at the Blue House on the same day and exchanged opinions on the rapid execution plan of the 2nd supplementary budget. They also stated, "Rapid support for small business owners and self-employed individuals who are suffering due to recently strengthened quarantine measures is of utmost importance," and pledged to concentrate government capabilities on this matter.

President Moon particularly emphasized, "It is important to promptly handle complaints and appeals that may arise during the execution of supplementary budget funds such as various support funds and loss compensation," and asked Prime Minister Kim to "thoroughly prepare for this."

Prime Minister Kim reported regarding the loss compensation for small business owners, which is being implemented for the first time, that "proactive preparation is necessary for establishing compensation standards and estimating the scale of losses to ensure rapid execution," and added, "To this end, we will form an 'intergovernmental task force (TF)' centered on the Ministry of SMEs and Startups with participation from related ministries."

Discussions were also held on the COVID-19 quarantine situation. Prime Minister Kim said about the recent trend of COVID-19 confirmed cases, "A rapid decrease in a short period is difficult," and added, "If strong control is maintained, it is expected that the peak will pass by the end of July or early August and gradually stabilize."

President Moon and Prime Minister Kim agreed that public cooperation is essential to expedite the recovery of daily life and decided to unite efforts to encourage the public's participation in quarantine measures.