All Nine Standing Committees Decide to Increase Budget
More Funding for Livelihood Coupons and National Health Insurance
Final Approval Expected on the Morning of the 3rd or 4th
As of July 2, a review of the supplementary budget deliberations by nine standing committees in the National Assembly shows that the budget increased by a net total of 6.3827 trillion won. All nine committees decided to increase the budget during their preliminary reviews.
For example, the Public Administration and Security Committee increased the budget by 2.9 trillion won by eliminating the local governments' share of the cost for the livelihood recovery consumption coupons and shifting the burden to the central government. This measure was taken in consideration of the significant disparities in local government finances across regions, but it increases the central government's fiscal burden. Furthermore, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, which holds a majority in the Assembly, announced plans to further increase support funds for the livelihood consumption coupons, promising an additional 30,000 won per person in non-metropolitan areas and 50,000 won per person in rural areas facing population decline. In this case, an additional 600 billion won would be required. Jin Sungjoon, the Democratic Party's Policy Committee Chair, stated on CBS Radio that regarding the timing of the livelihood recovery consumption coupon payments, "If the bill is processed this week, the Ministry of Economy and Finance told me yesterday that payments could be made within July."
During the standing committee reviews, the scale of support for National Health Insurance subscribers was also significantly increased. The government will raise its contribution from the current 12.1% to 14%, as specified in the National Health Insurance Act, resulting in an additional fiscal burden of 1.6379 trillion won. Other budget increases include 328.7 billion won for the supply of zero-emission vehicles, 62.1 billion won for innovation support at regional hub hospitals, and 49.8 billion won for technology verification and industry-academia-research collaboration for physical AI technology development. Web content coupons were increased by 36.4 billion won, and AI semiconductors by 14 billion won.
On the other hand, there were few notable reductions in the budget during the National Assembly's review. The only significant cuts were 2.2 billion won from the National Mind Investment Support Project and 2.3 billion won from the reduction in the number of security phones provided to Defense Counterintelligence Command personnel in the telecommunications fee and information protection project.
While the increased budget amounts approved by the standing committees are not automatically reflected in the supplementary budget, they are likely to be considered during the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts review, making further increases inevitable.
The National Assembly plans to hold a Budget Adjustment Subcommittee meeting on this day for a comprehensive review. The schedule for processing the bill will also be determined accordingly. The Democratic Party initially declared that the supplementary budget would be processed on July 3, but due to changes such as the policy inquiry period being extended from one day to two, the timing may be delayed. A National Assembly official explained, "After negotiations between the ruling and opposition parties regarding the budget bill, and after the government's revisions, the budget bill is expected to be processed either on the morning of the 3rd or the 4th."
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