[Weekly Outlook] Will Next Year's Budget, Delayed Beyond Deadline, Pass During the Regular Session... October Current Account Balance Also to Be Announced

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Son Seon-hee] With next year's budget bill missing the legal deadline for passage (December 2), attention is focused on whether it can be passed within the regular session of the National Assembly. The regular session is scheduled to end on the 9th. As concerns over next year's economic downturn grow, voices are calling for the prompt passage of the budget bill and key tax reform bills designated as subsidiary bills.

According to the National Assembly and related ministries on the 4th, the ruling and opposition parties have already missed the legal deadline for the budget bill and have yet to reach an agreement on the budget review and major tax reform bills such as corporate tax and financial investment income tax. Moreover, the opposition party's motion to dismiss Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min has further complicated the calculations.

Choo Kyung-ho, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, said, "Next year's economy is expected to be more difficult than this year, and if the passage in the National Assembly is delayed, subsequent procedures such as announcement of business plans and securing local government funds will also be delayed, making it difficult to execute the government's prepared budget for livelihood jobs and small and medium-sized enterprise support early in the year." He urged, "Since the difficulties of ordinary people are intensifying and there is a high risk of disruption to economic recovery, prompt confirmation within the legal deadline is urgently needed."

On the 6th, the Korea Development Institute (KDI) and the National Economic Advisory Council will hold an international conference on the theme of "The Role of Finance for Sustainable Growth." Amid shrinking fiscal capacity due to declining economic growth rates and increased welfare spending caused by population aging, the conference will diagnose short- and long-term fiscal risk factors and discuss ways to enhance fiscal sustainability.

The Bank of Korea will announce the "October Balance of Payments (provisional)" results on the 9th. Since October's customs-based export value decreased for the first time in two years (-5.7%), attention is on whether the October balance of payments has returned to a deficit. The current account surplus in September ($1.61 billion) successfully turned positive after a month, but the surplus amount decreased by $8.89 billion compared to the same month last year ($10.51 billion).

Additionally, the Ministry of Economy and Finance is preparing to announce the "2023 Economic Policy Direction," which will outline the economic policy stance for next year, in mid to late this month. On the 7th, Deputy Prime Minister Choo will preside over a "Macroeconomic Experts Meeting" in preparation for this announcement.

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