National Assembly passes US$ 13 bil. supplementary budget bill to be used for 4th round of COVID-19 emergency relief

'4차 재난지원금' 추경안 본회의 통과…15조원 규모

The supplementary budget to be used for a fourth round of COVID-19 emergency relief has been passed by the National Assembly.
We have our Hong Yoo on the line for more.
So Yoo, it took time for the ruling Democratic Party and the main opposition People Power Party to come to an agreement on the budget. What are the changes made from the government proposal?

Mokyeon, the extra budget bill was passed in a plenary session this morning, 21 days after the government had submitted it to the National Assembly.
The two rival parties had taken some time in coming to agreeable terms.
The amount agreed upon is the same as what the government initially proposed,... clocking in at more than 13 billion U.S. dollars.
More than 7 billion dollars have been allocated to support those affected by Covid-19, more than 2 billion for employment measures and more than 3 billion for disease prevention measures such as the purchase of vaccines.
One of the adjustments made from the initial proposal is broader support for farmers who are having hard time due to the drop in consumption resulting from the pandemic.
460 thousand farmers with less than 0-point-5 hectares of farmland will receive more than 260 dollars each.
The amount set aside for helping small business owners who have been hit hard by the pandemic was increased by more than 800-million dollars.
For over a million small business owners, electricity charges will be reduced by 30-50% for three months.
Businesses that have seen their income drop by more than 60 percent will get around 2,650 dollars in cash handouts.
Same amount of handouts will be given to travel sector businesses,… an increase of 880 dollars on what was initially proposed by the government.
The ruling Democratic party and the main opposition People Power Party had agreed to shift the amount set aside for employment measures from the supplementary budget and instead use the main budget.
Now with the extra budget bill passed, around 17-point-6 billion dollars will be used for the fourth round of COVID-19 emergency relief.
Back to you, Mokyeon.

#Budget #COVID19 #SouthKorea

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2021-03-25, 10:00 (KST)

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