People Power Party: "First January Supplementary Budget in 71 Years... 'Election Bribery' Debt Supplementary Budget"

Ryu Seong-geol "Please explain why the additional measures proposed by the People Power Party were not reflected"

Ryu Seong-geol, Member of the People Power Party [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] The People Power Party criticized the government's submission of the first supplementary budget bill (supplementary budget) on the 7th as a "vote-buying tool for the election," saying it is "deceiving the people once again."

Members of the People Power Party's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts held a press conference at the National Assembly on the same day, stating, "The Democratic Party of Korea and the government have prepared supplementary budgets four times in 2020 and twice last year since the COVID-19 crisis, and have now prepared a supplementary budget in January for the first time in 71 years."

Ryu Seong-geol, the opposition party's secretary of the Budget and Accounts Committee, asked, "The size of the supplementary budget submitted by the government is only 14 trillion won. Where was candidate Lee Jae-myung during the estimated ruling party consultation?" He added, "When the People Power Party announced an additional 32 trillion won support plan for small business owners, trying to hitch a free ride by calling for an emergency meeting of presidential candidates is deceiving small business owners and self-employed people once again."

Ryu also said, "This supplementary budget is based on 'excess tax revenue,' and the government mocked the public as if it were a debt-free supplementary budget," adding, "Of the 10 trillion won in excess tax revenue claimed by the government and ruling party, only 2.9 trillion won can be used as supplementary budget funds under the National Finance Act." He emphasized that issuing deficit bonds without expenditure restructuring or debt repayment plans is a burden on future generations.

Members of the People Power Party's Budget Committee also urged the government to explain why the additional measures proposed by the People Power Party were not reflected in the supplementary budget bill. Ryu said, "We will do our best to ensure that during the supplementary budget review process, support such as 10 million won in COVID-19 recovery funds for small business owners, 100% compensation for losses with an increase of the minimum loss amount to 1 million won, support for blind spots such as culture, sports, and tourism industries, and budget allocation for retroactive application of loss compensation can be added."

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