75% of Next Year's Expenditure Budget Allocated in First Half... Maintaining 'Early Execution' Policy

The government has allocated 75% of next year's expenditure budget in the first half of the year. This marks the highest level for two consecutive years, following this year's 75%. The explanation given is that this is to support low-income and vulnerable groups.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on the 26th that the '2024 Budget Allocation Plan' with these details was confirmed at the Cabinet meeting. Budget allocation grants each ministry the right to use the budget, and only after allocation can each ministry make expenditures through contracts and other means.

The total budget, combining the general account and special accounts, amounts to 550 trillion won, of which 412.5 trillion won, or 75%, is allocated in the first half of the year. The government explained the reason for early allocation, stating, "We allocated 75% of the total expenditure budget in the first half to invigorate our economy and support early budget execution."

It emphasized that early allocation focused particularly on support for socially disadvantaged groups such as low-income households, vulnerable groups, and small business owners, as well as investments in creating quality private-sector jobs. The government plans to thoroughly prepare in advance so that the allocated budget is executed at the appropriate time from the beginning of the year through procedures such as fund allocation.

Following the COVID-19 period, the government's trend of early budget execution has gradually strengthened. The early allocation rate in the first half was 70.4% in 2019, increasing to 71.4% in 2020, 72.4% in 2021, 73% in 2022, and reaching 75% this year.

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