An Il-hwan, 2nd Vice Minister of Economy and Finance, "Will actively manage finances to recover economy weakened by COVID-19"

Ahn Il-hwan, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. (File photo)

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Ahn Il-hwan, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, stated on the 28th regarding the fiscal management direction for the second quarter of this year, "The government plans to operate the budget more actively in the future to actively respond to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and to restore the weakened economic vitality."

Vice Minister Ahn made these remarks while presiding over the 8th Emergency Fiscal Management Inspection Meeting at the Government Seoul Office on the same day.

He said, "Through the third supplementary budget currently being prepared, we plan to actively support financial aid for companies and small business owners, expansion of employment and social safety nets, and revitalization of domestic demand, exports, and regional economies," adding, "Each ministry and local government needs to prepare thorough execution plans for the fiscal projects included in the third supplementary budget as soon as it is finalized."

He also urged the prompt execution of the first and second supplementary budgets previously organized. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, of the 9.9 trillion KRW project budget from the first supplementary budget passed by the National Assembly on March 17 this year, 8.9 trillion KRW (89.5%) had been executed by the 22nd. The emergency disaster relief funds secured through the second supplementary budget were paid to 20.82 million households (95.9%) totaling 13.1 trillion KRW (92.2%) by the 26th.

He said, "Please accelerate the early execution of major fiscal projects included in the 2020 main budget to maximize the fiscal effect on economic reinforcement in the first half of the year," and added, "I hope the execution speed will be maximized to achieve the highest-ever execution targets set at 62.0% for central government finances, 60.0% for local government finances, and 63.0% for local education finances."

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