Ruling Party and Government Lean Towards Selective Disaster Relief Payments... 4th Supplementary Budget at 9 Trillion Won Scale

Vice Minister Gi Jae 1st "Confirmed Announcement Next Week"
Self-Employed and Small Business Owners Selected Based on Sales as Main Criterion

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] The Democratic Party of Korea and the government have settled on a plan to selectively support industries and groups economically affected by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), such as karaoke rooms and PC rooms, based on their sales for the second round of disaster relief funds. The scale of the 4th supplementary budget bill is expected to be set at around 9 trillion won.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance plans to complete this task and finalize the plan by next week. For small business owners and self-employed individuals, they are considering a method to determine recipients primarily based on sales.

On the 4th, Kim Yong-beom, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said in an interview with KBS Radio's 'Kim Kyung-rae's Strong Current Affairs,' "We are preparing to finalize and announce the government's plan by next week," adding, "We are analyzing sales data for small business owners and self-employed individuals, and for other affected groups, we are discussing various programs to provide tailored support."

Earlier, Vice Minister Kim appeared on KBS 'Newsline' the previous afternoon and emphasized, "Unlike the first wave of COVID-19, the current damage is concentrated on specific groups, so it is appropriate to selectively support them," and "We will focus on selectively supporting self-employed individuals and small business owners who have been heavily affected."

The ruling party and government plan to hold a high-level party-government-civilian meeting this week to finalize the specific recipients and scale of support based on discussions. Since the party and government aim to distribute disaster relief funds before Chuseok, discussions are expected to accelerate. The government is reviewing the sectors most affected with relevant ministries. They plan to provide compensation payments under the name of business suspension compensation to industries hit by social distancing measures, such as karaoke rooms and PC rooms.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 3rd, Han Jeong-ae, Chair of the Democratic Party Policy Committee, and Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, held a private working-level party-government meeting to discuss this selective support plan. During the meeting, the party and government agreed to move away from universal payments to selective payments, focusing support measures on self-employed individuals and small business owners.

Additionally, the need for support for vulnerable groups such as special employment workers, freelancers, self-employed individuals, and the unemployed was raised, as well as support for those facing childcare issues due to the suspension of in-person classes at kindergartens, daycare centers, and elementary schools. The party and government are also discussing financial policies, including expanding emergency loans for self-employed individuals and small business owners. The scale of the 4th supplementary budget for this is expected to be around 9 trillion won, falling short of 10 trillion won. This amount is larger than the 5 trillion won initially anticipated by the Ministry of Economy and Finance but less than the amount proposed by some within the Democratic Party.

Since the 4th supplementary budget requires funding through deficit bond issuance, the Ministry of Economy and Finance has shown a negative stance toward expanding the budget. On the 2nd, Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party, visited Mangwon Market in Mapo-gu, Seoul, and said, "We will try to increase the scale of this supplementary budget as much as possible," adding, "We are trying to increase it much more than what the financial authorities have planned."

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