Deputy Prime Minister Choo Kyung-ho: "Increased Spending Beyond Government Budget Proposal Is Unacceptable"

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho emphasized on the 7th, "The government cannot accept any net increase in the total expenditure of the budget bill submitted by the government." This means it is difficult to accept the sections where the Democratic Party of Korea has requested increases in the next year's budget bill currently under discussion in the National Assembly.

Deputy Prime Minister Choo stated this during a meeting with reporters at the National Assembly, saying, "This has been the government's consistent position from the beginning." He added, "For parts where the opposition party requests some increases, consideration for increases should be within the scope of reductions made during the National Assembly's review process," and "I hope reasonable mutual consultation and adjustment will take place within that scope."

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho is making remarks related to the budget bill in front of the National Assembly plenary session hall on the 7th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

He continued, "The opposition party is trying to unreasonably reduce some of the government's core projects," and "The government firmly maintains the position that such parts cannot be accepted." He further explained, "There are also parts where the opposition party is making unreasonable increase demands with cash handouts and populist measures, and those parts remain unresolved at present."

Regarding the budget bill missing the legal processing deadline (the 2nd) and the regular session period (the 9th), Deputy Prime Minister Choo said, "I deeply regret that the budget bill could not be passed within the regular session during such a severe livelihood and economic situation."

On the ruling and opposition parties setting the budget bill processing deadline as the 20th, he said, "I do not want to anticipate a pessimistic situation." However, Deputy Prime Minister Choo added, "If the opposition party insists on unilateral processing citing failure to reach an agreement with the government and ruling party, the government cannot agree to any increases, so I think the opposition party will probably propose a plan composed only of reduced projects."

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Choo forecasted, "Extremely speaking, some reductions compared to the government budget bill might be desirable from the perspective of fiscal soundness," and "However, there are parts that need increases for livelihood and the future, and since the government and ruling party are seriously considering those parts, I think the opposition party will not push forward unreasonably."