Vice Minister Gi Jae: "16,000 Bills at Risk of Automatic Expiration... Full Support for Legislation" (Update)

Novel Coronavirus "Limited Impact on Our Economy... Full Efforts for Response"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Kim Yong-beom, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said on the 31st, "Each ministry should make every effort to support legislation so that non-contentious and major bills can be passed until the very end, taking advantage of the February extraordinary session of the National Assembly."

On the same day, Vice Minister Kim held the 2nd Innovation Growth Strategy Review Meeting at the Seoul Government Complex and stated, "A record high of about 16,000 bills will inevitably be automatically discarded."

The number of bills discarded due to expiration of term were ▲3,162 (17th National Assembly) ▲6,301 (18th National Assembly) ▲9,811 (19th National Assembly) ▲16,000 (20th National Assembly), respectively.

He added, "Some of the bills that the government has focused on, such as the Data 3 Acts and the Special Act on Balanced Development, have been processed, which I believe will greatly contribute to future economic management."

Regarding the industrial activity trends announced that day, he analyzed, "The three major indicators of production, consumption, and facility investment continued to improve for two consecutive months," and "The leading index cyclical component, which can gauge future economic trends, has risen for four consecutive months, and the coincident index has also turned upward."

He further added, "This is a meaningful result that supports positive expectations for economic recovery along with the recent improvement in economic sentiment indicators."

According to the 'December Industrial Activity Trends' announced by Statistics Korea on the same day, total industrial production (seasonally adjusted, excluding agriculture, forestry, and fisheries) in December last year increased by 1.4% compared to the previous month. On an annual basis, it increased by 0.4% compared to the previous year.

Regarding the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia), he emphasized, "Unforeseen risk factors are occurring one after another," and "The government will mobilize all its capabilities preemptively to block anxiety caused by the disease spread."

He continued, "So far, the impact on our economy is not significant, but since negative effects are also a concern depending on future developments, we will carefully monitor the impact on the real economy and financial markets."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.