National Assembly approves $13.2 billion extra budget to fight aftermath of COVID-19
The National Assembly's Special Committee on Budget and Accounts on Thursday passes rolling out an extra budget worth 15 trillion-won to help small merchants and the vulnerable hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yonhap
The National Assembly on Thursday approved an extra budget worth 15 trillion-won (US$13.2 billion) to help prop up small merchants and the vulnerable hit hard by the yearlong COVID-19 pandemic.
The bill's passage enables the country's fourth round of emergency relief assistance since the first case of the new coronavirus was confirmed in South Korea in January last year. The latest aid package, which will selectively benefit small business owners, the jobless and other vulnerable people, amounts to 20.7 trillion won in total.
The parliament advanced the supplementary budget bill through a plenary session in a 242-6 vote, with 11 abstentions.
Nearly 10 trillion won of the approved extra budget will be financed by issuing government bonds, with the rest to be assigned from the national budget. (Yonhap)