Presidential Office, "Thorough preparations to ensure budget execution from the beginning of the year" following National Assembly approval

Maintaining Sound Fiscal Policy and Increasing Support for Vulnerable Groups

The Presidential Office stated on the 21st, "Although it was late, we think it is fortunate that the budget bill passed the National Assembly with bipartisan agreement."

Kim Su-kyung, spokesperson for the Presidential Office, explained during a briefing at the Yongsan Presidential Office that day, "The next year's budget adhered to the principle of net reduction during the National Assembly's review process to maintain a sound fiscal policy, and significantly increased support projects for the livelihood economy and vulnerable groups such as small business owners, farmers and fishermen, youth, and persons with disabilities."

She continued, "Regarding the research and development (R&D) budget and the Saemangeum-related budget, we supplemented necessary parts by listening to voices from the field while maintaining the government's original budget formulation intent," she emphasized.

Additionally, "The government plans to make every effort to prepare for the execution so that next year's budget can be implemented from the beginning of the year," she stated.

Earlier, the National Assembly approved the 2024 budget bill amounting to 656.6 trillion won at the plenary session that day. The government's original proposal submitted to the National Assembly in September was reduced by a total of 300 billion won from 656.9 trillion won. The increases amounted to about 3.9 trillion won, while the decreases were about 4.2 trillion won.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

During the budget review process, the ruling and opposition parties increased the R&D budget by a net 621.7 billion won, focusing on expanding research infrastructure such as resolving employment instability and supporting next-generation and fundamental technology research. The Saemangeum social overhead capital budget and local currency budget were each increased by 300 billion won.

Meanwhile, regarding the opposition party's claim that the government raised the stock transfer tax threshold from ownership of 1 billion won or more to 5 billion won or more and broke the bipartisan agreement to postpone the introduction of the financial investment income tax for two years, the spokesperson said, "Regarding the financial investment income tax, it is a matter to be decided through National Assembly discussions while observing market conditions next year."

Last year, the ruling and opposition parties agreed to postpone the introduction of the financial investment income tax for two years and not to touch the stock transfer tax.

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