Democratic Party: "Local Currency Is Like Rain During a Drought... Will Greatly Help Small Business Owners and the Self-Employed"
People Power Party: "Worsening Fiscal Soundness... Negative Impact on Economic Growth"
On April 28, members of the National Assembly Public Administration and Security Committee independently passed a supplementary budget bill that newly includes a 1 trillion won budget for local currency (regional gift certificates) during a plenary session. Lawmakers from the People Power Party walked out just before the vote in protest against the Democratic Party's unilateral handling of the supplementary budget bill.
Democratic Party lawmaker Wi Seongon stated, "The supplementary budget is intended for people's livelihoods and economic stimulus. The government proposal already allocates 1.4 trillion won for Onnuri gift certificates," adding, "I cannot agree with the notion that Onnuri gift certificates are a good budget item while local currency is a bad one."
Shin Jeonghun, the Democratic Party chair of the Public Administration and Security Committee, also argued, "Local currency will be a great help to small business owners or self-employed people who are struggling, much like rain during a drought."
On the other hand, People Power Party lawmaker Cho Eunhee criticized, "Recklessly using taxpayers' money for the political interests of a party is no different from a breach of trust in the corporate world," and added, "If cash-based budget support is distributed to local governments ahead of the presidential election, wouldn't that lead to suspicions of trying to influence the election?"
She continued, "With the deterioration of fiscal soundness, the burden on future generations is rapidly increasing, which will negatively affect economic growth," and emphasized, "If the Democratic Party truly cares about people's livelihoods, it should first conduct in-depth discussions on areas urgently requiring national funding, rather than debating the highly controversial local currency issue."
Minister of the Interior and Safety Ko Kidong said, "Regarding the budget for issuing regional gift certificates, please consider that it is necessary to comprehensively review the nature of the supplementary budget proposal submitted by the government."
The budget under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety was increased by 1.080931 trillion won, including 1 trillion won to support the issuance of local currency, 20 billion won for public emergency jobs to support wildfire victims, and 28.654 billion won for the informatization of the electronic document system. In the supplementary budget under the jurisdiction of the National Police Agency, a contribution of 3.657 billion won to the Korea Road Traffic Authority was added. In the supplementary budget under the jurisdiction of the National Fire Agency, 73.860 billion won was added for establishing a foundation for the spread of excellent firefighting equipment and for supporting the integrated management and operation of firefighting helicopters nationwide.
Previously, the Democratic Party had also independently passed the supplementary budget bill in the Budget and Settlement Fund Review Subcommittee of the Public Administration and Security Committee. People Power Party lawmakers walked out of the meeting in protest.
The supplementary budget bill is scheduled for final review and approval by the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
