Yeongyang-gun, 2023 Main Budget Set at Record High of 388.3 Billion KRW

Focus on Ensuring Public Health and Safety, Revitalizing Stagnant Local Economy

Yeongyang County Office.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Gwiyeol] Yeongyang-gun, Gyeongbuk Province, has prepared the largest-ever 2023 main budget of 388.3 billion KRW and submitted it to the county council to ensure the health and safety of residents and contribute to revitalizing the stagnant local economy.

This amount represents an increase of 42.7 billion KRW (12.36%) compared to the previous year. By account type, the general account increased by 40.7 billion KRW (13.2%) to 348.7 billion KRW, and the special account increased by 2 billion KRW (5.32%) to 39.6 billion KRW.

This budget was formulated by securing maximum available resources to recover the stagnant local economy through stabilizing residents' livelihoods amid emergency economic conditions such as high inflation and economic slowdown, revitalizing the local economy, expanding employment through job creation, and improving income in rural fishing villages. Additionally, the budget prioritizes residents' health and safety.

As the first main budget of the 8th elected administration, efforts were continuously made to secure national funds by establishing a cooperative system between the county governor and local members of the National Assembly, as well as actively discovering public contest projects by public officials. As a result, 90.4 billion KRW in national funds were secured, an increase of 19.5 billion KRW (27.5%) compared to the initial national fund budget of 70.9 billion KRW this year.

Major projects include ▲ Yeongyang Residents' Safety Insurance (110 million KRW) ▲ Health checkup support for residents aged 50 and over in Yeongyang-gun (750 million KRW) ▲ Crop disaster insurance premium support (2.6 billion KRW) ▲ Farmer and fisher allowance support (2.4 billion KRW) ▲ Quality improvement incentive for red chili pepper shipping farms (1 billion KRW) ▲ Senior job and social activity support (4.6 billion KRW) ▲ Basic pension support (20.6 billion KRW) ▲ Modernization of old senior centers and promotion of seated culture (320 million KRW) ▲ Childcare allowance and services (1.9 billion KRW) ▲ Construction of Yeongyang Library (5.9 billion KRW) ▲ Construction of agricultural product distribution facilities (cold storage) (2 billion KRW) ▲ Construction of dormitories for agricultural workers (1.2 billion KRW) ▲ Renovation and construction of sports facilities including a dedicated badminton court (5.8 billion KRW) ▲ Yeongyang Night Sky Clean Eco Village project (10 billion KRW) ▲ Yeongyang Birch Forest Healing Hub project (1.5 billion KRW) ▲ Dongburi rural spatial maintenance project (2.7 billion KRW) ▲ Expansion of Subijukpa local water supply system (3 billion KRW) ▲ Yeongyang residential-type small farm project (2.8 billion KRW) ▲ Construction of underwater rehabilitation center (4.6 billion KRW) ▲ Expansion of Bitkkalchan Job Support Center (1.5 billion KRW), among others.

By sector, the budget was allocated in the order of agriculture, forestry, marine, and fisheries (18.73%), environment (15.95%), social welfare (15.11%), and land and regional development (9.75%).

County Governor Oh Do-chang stated, “The role of local finance is more important than ever to recover the local economy and overcome crises caused by inflation and economic slowdown. Given the limited resources under difficult financial conditions, we will ensure that the budget is not wasted and is thoroughly executed according to its purpose.”