South Korea says 5 trillion won in extra budget executed, seeks faster local subsidies

Lim Ki-geun, vice minister of the Office of Planning and Budget, visits Daemo Engineering in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, on April 27 and chairs an inspection meeting on the export voucher support program. [Photo=Office of Planning and Budget]

South Korea has executed 5 trillion won of a supplementary budget drawn up to respond to the war in the Middle East, as spending moved into full swing by the end of April, officials said.

The Office of Planning and Budget said it held its eighth fiscal execution review meeting on April 30 at the Government Complex Seoul, chaired by Vice Minister Lim Ki-geun, to check the status of the extra budget and next steps.

Of the 26.2 trillion won supplementary budget, the government designated 10.5 trillion won for fast-track execution management and set a target of spending 85% by the first half of the year. After moving quickly on preliminary steps such as project notices, selecting recipients, and allocating and disbursing funds, 5 trillion won, or 47%, had been executed as of April 30, it said.

With execution accelerating, the meeting focused on ways to speed up actual spending, particularly for local subsidy projects. Local governments have been advancing disbursements by swiftly drafting their own supplementary budgets and using available mechanisms, including spending before formal budget approval, the office said.

For high-priority relief payments tied to high oil prices, 3.8 trillion won, or 80%, of the 4.8 trillion won budget has been transferred to local governments, and applications have been accepted since April 27, it said.

A public transportation fare refund program has also transferred 67.7 billion won, or 35.6%, of its 190.4 billion won budget, with refunds applied starting with April usage. A zero-emission vehicle rollout program has transferred 82.5 billion won, or 55%, of its 150 billion won budget, as major projects are being executed in sequence, it said.

Other programs, including movie ticket discounts and export vouchers, are also being implemented as planned, the office said.

Separately, execution of the main budget also continued, with fast-track public-sector spending totaling 266.1 trillion won by the end of April, for an execution rate of 40.5%, it said.

“Timely execution is the core of the supplementary budget,” Lim said. “Local subsidy projects in particular require close cooperation with local governments, so we will keep checking execution on the ground through the end and deliver results the public can feel.”

* This article has been translated by AI.

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