Chungnam Provincial Council Budget Committee Approves 2024 Fiscal Year Settlement Bill as Originally Proposed

Order to Reduce Remaining Execution Balance, Unused Funds, and Carried-Over Budget

The Budget and Accounts Special Committee of the Chungnam Provincial Council approved the 2024 fiscal year settlement bill of Chungnam Province as originally proposed on the afternoon of the 19th. / Provided by Chungnam Provincial Council

The Budget and Accounts Special Committee of the Chungnam Provincial Council announced on the afternoon of the 19th that it had reviewed and approved, as originally proposed, the 2024 fiscal year settlement bill, the fund settlement, and the reserve fund expenditure approval bill submitted by Chungnam Province.

According to the Special Committee, the total budget for the 2024 fiscal year settlement approval bill submitted by Chungnam Province amounted to 10.9812 trillion won. Of this, 10.7818 trillion won was collected, 10.5110 trillion won was spent, and the surplus in the settlement was 270.7 billion won.

The main expenditure details show that the largest portion, 3.1698 trillion won or 33.6% of the total budget last year, was allocated to the social welfare sector. The next largest expenditure was in the agriculture, forestry, maritime, and fisheries sector, which received 1.5735 trillion won or 16.7% of the total budget.

While approving the settlement bill as originally proposed, members of the Special Committee requested, "Please reduce the amount of local tax refunds and increase the collection rate in consideration of tax equity." They also pointed out, "Through budget adjustments in the supplementary budget, please reduce the balance of funds after execution, unused funds, and the amount of budget carried forward."

In addition, the committee called for corrective actions on four items: thorough reporting of budgets processed as deemed necessary, prohibition of diversion and changes in the use of funds for new projects, ensuring the appropriateness of budget formulation, and increasing staff for the collection of overdue payments.

Park Jeongsik, Chair of the Special Committee (Asan 3, People Power Party), stated, "In this settlement review, we closely examined whether the allocated budget was executed as intended and whether there was any waste of funds," and urged, "Please make every effort to ensure that the issues pointed out are faithfully reflected in future budget formulation and execution."

The settlement, fund accounting, and reserve fund expenditure approval bills reviewed by the Special Committee are scheduled for final deliberation and approval at the 4th plenary session of the 359th regular meeting on June 24.