By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
The governing and opposition parties failed to narrow their differences Tuesday over a government-proposed supplementary budget proposal to assist low-income families hit by soaring oil prices.
Under the proposal, the government plans to give subsidies of 1.6 trillion won and 840 billion won to the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) and Korea Gas Corporation (KGC), respectively to compensate for profit losses.
Despite soaring oil prices in the first half of this year, KEPCO and KGC have not raised electricity and gas prices, fearing it would make working-class families' lives even more difficult. This has resulted in increasing of business losses for the two firms.
Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon of the governing Grand National Party (GNP) told reporters that without the subsidies, the two public firms will inevitably raise electricity and gas prices by 2.75 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, to make up for their losses.
``The rising electricity and gas prices would hit people hard, particularly low-income families,'' he said.
The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) and the Liberty Forward Party (LFP), however, oppose the plan, calling for a cut in the current subsidies of 2.4 trillion won and 2 trillion won, respectively.
DP lawmaker Choi In-kee, from the National Assembly's budget and account committee, said that his party would not approve the proposal as no regulations regarding subsidies to public firms are outlined in the current law.
Floor leader Won Hye-young of the DP called the plan ``a bubble, and illegal,'' pledging that his party would fix the budget in a manner that serves the best interests of working- and middle-class citizens, farmers and senior citizens.
LFP lawmakers said committee members should cut the proposed budget so as to use the saved money to help farmers and fishermen who have been hit hard by rising crop and oil prices.
DP Chairman Chung Sye-kyun, meanwhile, insisted that KEPCO had 27 trillion won of business profits over the past years and therefore would not need to raise electricity prices even if the subsidy is not approved.
Chung's remarks invited a barrage of accusations from governing party lawmakers.
GNP Spokeswoman Cho Yoon-sun said the profits that Chung mentioned have already been used in building electricity infrastructure.
Floor leader Hong Joon-pyo of the ruling party threatened to unilaterally pass the budget proposal, if no agreement is made by Thursday. The GNP has 172 seats in the 299-member National Assembly.