Opposition Cuts 2.4 Trillion Won from Next Year's Contingency Fund at the National Assembly Budget Subcommittee

At the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee's Budget and Accounts Fund Review Subcommittee, the opposition party cut next year's government contingency fund by half.

On the 13th, at the Planning and Finance Committee's Budget Subcommittee, the Democratic Party of Korea passed a proposal to reduce the contingency fund budget of 4.8 trillion won to 2.4 trillion won.

On the 13th, Jeong Il-young, the subcommittee chairman, is speaking at the 3rd Budget and Accounts Fund Review Subcommittee of the Planning and Finance Committee held at the National Assembly. Photo by Kim Hyun-min

The contingency fund is an amount pre-allocated within a certain limit to cover unpredictable expenditures outside the budget. Unlike project budgets, it only requires the National Assembly's approval on the total amount without detailed review. The government had prepared a budget plan for next year with a contingency fund of 4.8 trillion won, which is a 14.3% increase compared to the previous budget.

An opposition party official explained, "Initially, we planned to cut about 1.2 trillion won from the contingency fund," adding, "However, opposing the government's increase decided at the subcommittee, only the reduction was approved, resulting in a 2.4 trillion won cut in the contingency fund."

The opposition also raised issues with the basis for next year's contingency fund allocation, pointing out that it had increased excessively compared to the pre-COVID-19 level of around 3 trillion won. On the other hand, the Ministry of Economy and Finance emphasized the necessity of allocating the contingency fund, citing changes in the international situation, increased uncertainties such as disasters and accidents, and the possibility of infectious disease outbreaks.

The opposition also cut the Ministry of Economy and Finance's basic expenses by 50% compared to the budget proposal. As a result, 3.918 billion won was cut from the Ministry's basic expenses. The opposition cited frequent cases of non-compliance with data requests during this year's government audit as one of the reasons.