All-in on Stabilizing the People's Economy... 35% of Q1 SOC Budget Released

Ministry of Economy and Finance, Disclosure of Rapid Execution Progress Status

Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy and Finance, is speaking at the Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 15th. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

The government expedited the execution of approximately 9 trillion won in the first quarter from the 25.1 trillion won social overhead capital (SOC) budget allocated this year to alleviate difficulties in people’s livelihoods, such as reduced consumer spending capacity. This was the result of raising the execution rate target to the maximum to stimulate the construction industry.

On the 15th, the Ministry of Economy and Finance held an emergency economic ministers' meeting at the Government Seoul Office to disclose the status of rapid fiscal execution. The government executed 213.5 trillion won out of the 561.8 trillion won target for rapid execution in the first quarter, achieving an execution rate of 38%.

Among the 109.5 trillion won budget for welfare for the vulnerable, jobs, and social overhead capital (SOC) projects classified as priority management targets, the government expedited 47.3 trillion won in the first quarter. By sector, a total of 31.4 trillion won (execution rate 45.2%) was allocated to welfare for the vulnerable, including the elderly (10.2 trillion won), low-income groups (9.5 trillion won), and youth (6.1 trillion won).

For job support, a total of 7 trillion won (47.1%) was executed, including direct jobs (2.5 trillion won) and other jobs (4.5 trillion won). For SOC projects such as roads (2.9 trillion won) and railroads (1.7 trillion won), a total of 8.9 trillion won (35.4%) was invested. The SOC project execution exceeded the same period last year by 1.4 trillion won, raising the execution rate by 4.4 percentage points compared to the previous year.

Particularly, emphasis was placed on the early execution of livelihood projects. Major livelihood projects this year included electricity fee reductions for small business owners (252 billion won), low-interest refinancing loans (500 billion won), national scholarships for youth (4.0975 trillion won), livelihood benefits for low-income groups and the elderly (7.5411 trillion won), and special housing supply for newborns in child-rearing families (773 billion won).

As of the cumulative first quarter, 34.7 trillion won was executed for livelihood projects, exceeding the plan by 4.9 trillion won. The execution rate compared to the annual budget for this year reached 44%, an improvement of 9 percentage points compared to the 35.3% execution rate in the same period last year.

The government plans to regularly hold joint fiscal execution inspection meetings with related ministries, chaired by the 2nd Vice Minister of Economy and Finance, to strengthen execution management focusing on key items affecting economic recovery and enhance the public’s perception of policies. The Ministry of Economy and Finance stated, "We will actively promote execution management by providing fiscal incentives to ministries and local governments with excellent execution management in the first half of the year."