Presidential Office, Ruling and Opposition Parties Agree on Budget Bill "Late but Fortunate... Preparing for Proper Execution"

Ruling and Opposition Party Floor Leaders Announce Agreement on Next Year's Budget Bill Processing Statement

The Presidential Office stated on the 20th, regarding the ruling and opposition parties' agreement on next year's budget at the National Assembly, "Although it was late, it is fortunate that the budget was finalized through bipartisan agreement," and added, "The government will prepare to ensure proper execution."

A Presidential Office official conveyed this position to Asia Economy when asked about the ruling and opposition parties' agreement on next year's budget on the same day.

Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, and Hong Ik-pyo, floor leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, met at the National Assembly in the afternoon and announced a joint statement for the processing of next year's budget.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The budget was finalized at 652.7 trillion won, reduced by 4.2 trillion won from the government proposal. It was agreed not to increase the national debt and government bond issuance scale beyond the government proposal.

The research and development (R&D) budget, a contentious area, was agreed to increase by 600 billion won compared to the government proposal. The original government proposal was 25.9 trillion won, down 5.2 trillion won from the previous year. The increased budget will be used to alleviate employment insecurity for field researchers, strengthen research on next-generation core technologies, and support the latest high-performance research equipment.

The Saemangeum-related budget will be increased by 300 billion won for projects that can support smooth business activities of resident companies and attract private investment.

The budget to support the issuance of local love gift certificates (local currency) was not included in the original government proposal, but partially accepted the Democratic Party's demand (705.3 billion won) and allocated 300 billion won.

The ruling and opposition parties agreed to process next year's budget and related supplementary revenue budget bills at the plenary session at 10 a.m. on the 21st.

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