[Yoon Administration Supplementary Budget] Energy Vouchers Distributed to 1.18 Million Households... Additional Stockpiling of Key Minerals Including Tungsten

Yoon Administration Approves Supplementary Budget at Temporary Cabinet Meeting on 12th
Newly Allocates 91.6 Billion Won for Energy Vouchers
Expands Payment Targets from 880,000 to 1.18 Million Households
Increases Stockpile Budget for Key Minerals like Tungsten by 37.6 Billion Won

President Yoon Suk-yeol Chairs Chief Secretary Meeting on Second Day of Inauguration
(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Seo Myeong-gon = President Yoon Suk-yeol is speaking at the Chief Secretary Meeting held at the Yongsan Presidential Office building on the morning of the 11th. 2022.5.11
Photo by Seo Myeong-gon
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[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Jun-hyung] The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy is submitting a second supplementary budget proposal worth 130 billion won to the National Assembly. This is to significantly expand the recipients of the energy voucher and to additionally secure reserves of critical minerals.

The Ministry announced on the 12th that it will submit a second supplementary budget proposal worth 129.2 billion won, prepared to stabilize livelihoods and prices, to the National Assembly. On the same day, the Yoon Seok-yeol administration held an extraordinary Cabinet meeting at the Yongsan Presidential Office and approved the supplementary budget proposal.

The core of the Ministry's supplementary budget proposal is the energy voucher for vulnerable groups. To alleviate the burden of cooling and heating costs for energy-vulnerable households, the Ministry newly allocated 91.6 billion won to the energy voucher support budget. This measure is in response to the sharp rise in energy prices due to geopolitical conflicts such as the Ukraine crisis.

Through the second supplementary budget, the Ministry plans to expand the scope of energy voucher recipients to 1.18 million households this year. Previously, the energy voucher recipients were 880,000 households receiving livelihood and medical benefits. The Ministry plans to add 300,000 households receiving housing and education benefits to the energy voucher recipients using the increased budget.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The unit price of the energy voucher support will also be increased this year. The Ministry plans to raise the cooling voucher from 9,000 won per household to 40,000 won, an increase of 31,000 won. The heating voucher will be increased from 118,000 won per household to 132,000 won, a rise of 14,000 won.

The supplementary budget proposal also includes a budget for stockpiling critical minerals to respond to the supply chain crisis. The Ministry increased the critical minerals stockpiling budget by 37.6 billion won to additionally stockpile tungsten and magnesium equivalent to 60 days of domestic demand. Tungsten and magnesium are minerals widely used in industries such as machinery, aviation, and automobiles, and are classified as key economic security items due to high import dependence on specific countries.

An official from the Ministry said, "We will promptly execute the second supplementary budget once it is finalized through the National Assembly's review," and added, "We will do our best to manage the supplementary budget proposal."