People Power Party Accelerates Supplementary Budget... "Agreed on Budget Committee Inquiries for 19th and 20th"

Securing Funds from Excess Tax Revenue
"We Will Make It the First Starting Point of Cooperation"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyunju Lee and Hyunji Kwon] The government and the People Power Party are accelerating the processing of the second supplementary budget bill to support small business owners and self-employed individuals affected by COVID-19.

On the 12th, Seong Il-jong, the Policy Committee Chair of the People Power Party, stated in an interview with KBS Radio, "I understand that the schedule has been agreed upon to hold the Budget and Accounts Committee (BAC) meetings on the 19th and 20th for inquiries related to current issues and the supplementary budget."

Regarding the funding for the supplementary budget, he explained that 7 trillion won will be raised through expenditure restructuring, 8 trillion won from remaining funds, and the rest will be partially covered by the 53 trillion won in excess tax revenue. Chair Seong said, "Since an additional 53 trillion won in tax revenue came in, we will use part of that. About 23 trillion won out of the 53 trillion will be used for local allocation tax and education grants, and from the remaining funds, we created 33 trillion won plus alpha." The day before, the ruling party and government agreed to provide 6 million won plus alpha in support funds to 3.7 million small business owners and self-employed individuals who suffered losses due to COVID-19 business restrictions.

Chair Seong added, "After that, about 9 trillion won remained, which we used to repay over 1,000 trillion won in national bonds, thereby lowering the national debt ratio to 49.6%."

Ryu Seong-geol, the ruling party's BAC floor leader, also said at the party's strategy meeting that day, "This supplementary budget funding was secured through expenditure restructuring, global surplus funds, and revenue adjustments, unlike previous administrations, so as not to burden future generations with debt." He added, "Since the Democratic Party has also expressed willingness to cooperate quickly on the supplementary budget, as the People Power Party floor leader, I will make this supplementary budget an opportunity to establish the first starting point for cooperation."

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