Lee Min-hyung joined The Korea Times in 2014 and has worked as a journalist mainly in Korea’s finance, tech and automotive industry. He specializes in content creation, breaking news and in-depth analysis currently on transportation and mobility. You can reach him via mhlee@koreatimes.co.kr.
Supplementary budget, inflation biggest tasks for finance minister nominee
Finance Minister nominee Choo Kyung-ho enters the offices of the presidential transition committee in Seoul, Friday. Joint Press Corps-Yonhap
By Lee Min-hyung
By Lee Min-hyung
Finance Minister nominee Choo Kyung-ho pledged to place his economic policy focus on stabilizing prices and executing supplementary budgets in time, according to his written statement submitted to the National Assembly, Sunday.
“Prices will see an upward trend for the time being, and the current economic situation is very grave,” he said in the statement ahead of his upcoming confirmation hearing.
The remark came amid escalating inflationary woes here and abroad. Korea's consumer prices rose in March by more than 4 percent for the first time in a decade, according to recent data from the Statistics Korea.
The general consensus here is that the prices index for April will show a gradual rise on global energy price hikes and a series of multiple economic uncertainties ― such as the rising won-dollar exchange rate and the lifting of social distancing rules.
“We need to deal with external risks for the price stabilization, and (the incoming administration) will seek to stabilize the livelihoods of the people as soon as possible,” Choo said.
He also underscored the importance of the authority taking appropriate measures to stabilize supply and demand in energy, raw materials and global grains, as part of its top priority to curb inflation here.
The finance minister nominee went on to say that he would take into careful consideration the details over its plans to execute the large-scale supplementary budget, in a move to provide financial support to those hit by the economic effects of the prolonged pandemic shock here.
“We are going to consider what impacts the extra budget spending will cast on multiple macroeconomic factors ― such as prices and interest rates,” he said.
But Choo did not share a detailed roadmap over the size and timeline for the execution of the budget.
“We will share the details soon after the new administration is inaugurated,” he said.
But he promised to maintain fiscal soundness while pushing for the planned budget spending.
“Issuing government bonds is the lowest priority,” he said. “While financing the budget, we will focus on minimizing the fiscal burden.”
He also reiterated his willingness to carry out policies for economic revitalization driven by the private sector.
“While maintaining a focus on driving economic revitalization mostly from the market and companies, we will also keep a close watch on managing the national debt at a proper level,” he said.
The agenda is in contrast to the incumbent administration's government-led economic growth framework.
“We will also avoid making any discriminative tax policies against big companies, so as to back up the growth strategy and enhance their international competitiveness,” he said. Details over the tax initiative will be revised in accordance with relevant laws, according to Choo.