Government Forecasts Next Year's 'Super Budget'... Expected to Exceed 550 Trillion Won

Ministry of Economy and Finance Confirms '2021 Budget Draft Guidelines'

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporters Kim Hyunjung and Joo Sangdon] The government has announced a 'super budget' exceeding 550 trillion won for next year. This is due to the need for an active fiscal role in overcoming the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The government approved and finalized the '2021 Budget Draft Preparation and Fund Operation Plan Guidelines (hereinafter referred to as the Preparation Guidelines)' at the Cabinet meeting on the 24th. The Preparation Guidelines are a kind of budget draft guideline presented by the Ministry of Economy and Finance to each ministry.

An Ilhwan, Director of the Budget Office at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said, "Our economy's foundation has been severely damaged by COVID-19, making it more urgent than ever to overcome the difficulties of the self-employed, small business owners, low-income groups, and vulnerable employment groups in the grassroots economy," adding, "It is inevitable that fiscal policy plays an active role in resolving these urgent issues and restoring economic dynamism."

Accordingly, next year's government budget is expected to increase significantly compared to this year (512.2 trillion won). Earlier, in August last year, the Ministry of Economy and Finance planned through the '2020 Budget Draft Preparation Guidelines' that the 2021 budget would increase by 6.5% to 546.8 trillion won from the original government budget draft (513.5 trillion won). At that time, the assumption was that the economy would recover starting this year, but due to the unexpected COVID-19 situation, the budget scale inevitably had to increase beyond that. Ultimately, next year's budget is likely to exceed 546.8 trillion won.

Next year, projects responding to infectious diseases such as COVID-19 will be significantly expanded. This includes expanding infectious disease specialized hospitals and personnel, strategically securing health stockpiles such as masks, expanding research and development of vaccines and therapeutics, and advancing quarantine and treatment systems. Additionally, the government plans to focus national resources on supporting the management stability and prepared re-start of self-employed and small business owners, fostering new industries such as bio, future cars, and system semiconductors, and strengthening employment safety nets for platform workers and daily workers in blind spots.

Meanwhile, each ministry must submit their budget requests to the Ministry of Economy and Finance by May 29th this year according to the Preparation Guidelines. Based on this, the Ministry of Economy and Finance plans to prepare the next year's budget draft and submit it to the National Assembly by September 3rd.

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