[Weekly Outlook] Supplementary Budget Bill Enters National Assembly Deliberation... Bank of Korea to Announce Annual International Balance of Payments

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Son Seon-hee] Starting next week, the National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts will begin reviewing a supplementary budget bill worth 14 trillion won. Both ruling and opposition parties are demanding an 'increase' in the supplementary budget proposed by the government, making a tug-of-war expected.

The government holds the position that, considering the national debt which has already exceeded 1,000 trillion won, the supplementary budget should not increase beyond the already submitted 14 trillion won. On the other hand, the Democratic Party demands an increase to over 35 trillion won, while the People Power Party argues for a substantial increase to around 50 trillion won.

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, stated at the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee on the 4th, "Regarding the increase, I believe that the executive branch's judgment should be considered rather than being bound by the ruling and opposition parties' agreement," reiterating the government's intention to oppose even if the parties agree to increase the supplementary budget. Increasing the supplementary budget is difficult without government consent.

The timing of the supplementary budget's approval is also a point of contention. The ruling party, the Democratic Party, has set a goal to pass the supplementary budget before the official presidential election campaign begins on the 15th of this month. However, the People Power Party has left open the option to approve it after the presidential election.

The Bank of Korea is scheduled to announce the preliminary results of the balance of payments for December of last year on the 10th. The balance of payments recorded a surplus of 84.2 billion dollars through November last year. However, since imports are increasing faster than exports, attention is focused on whether the annual surplus for last year exceeded the Bank of Korea's forecast of 92 billion dollars.

On the same day, the Bank of Korea will also release the 'Financial Market Trends for January.' As of the end of last year, the outstanding household loans in the banking sector stood at 1,060.7 trillion won, a decrease of 200 billion won compared to the end of November. This appears to reflect the effects of the government's strong household loan regulations and rising interest rates, and attention is on whether household loans have decreased for two consecutive months.

The Korea Development Institute (KDI) will announce the economic trends for February on the 10th and provide an assessment of the current economic situation. In January, KDI diagnosed that "recent consumer sentiment has weakened and export growth has slowed, increasing downside risks to the overall economy."

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