Lim Gi-geun: "Supplementary Budget Will Be Decided After Considering Revenues and Economic Trends... Executing the Main Budget Comes First"

Yonhap News Agency

Vice Minister Lim Gi-geun, who is serving as Acting Minister of the Ministry of Planning and Budget, said on the 23rd regarding the possibility of drawing up a so-called "cherry blossom supplementary budget bill" that the government "will make a decision after comprehensively considering tax revenue and the overall economic trend."

At an afternoon work report to the National Assembly's Strategy and Finance Committee, Acting Minister Lim said, "It is currently February, so we are at the initial stage of executing the budget that the National Assembly has reviewed and finalized," adding, "For now, faithfully executing the main budget is the priority."

On this year's first-quarter tax revenue outlook, he said, "Tax revenue conditions are better than at the time of the budget formulation," and added, "It is February, so it is difficult to jump to conclusions, but overall the situation is expected to be favorable."

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yoon-cheol also said, "We will only be able to make a reliable projection after corporate settlements are closed in March, but based on the current situation alone, corporate tax is likely to improve thanks to the semiconductor boom and the phase of the economic cycle."

In response to the comment that "the growth rate of earned income tax revenues is high, so its share in total national tax revenues has increased," he said, "The growth rate of earned income tax is high because the number of employed persons and regular workers has increased and wages have risen," adding, "Corporate tax is relatively sensitive to the business cycle."

Deputy Prime Minister Koo then added, "We will review whether there are any measures that could ease the tax burden on wage and salary earners."