SEOUL– President Moon Jae-in on Friday stepped up calls for the National Assembly to swiftly approve an extra budget bill, citing “desperate” hardship facing small merchants hit by the COVID-19 restrictions.
“As the situation of small merchants and self-employed people is desperate, the National Assembly should actively cooperate to resolve the difficulties of people’s livelihoods by approving an extra budget bill as soon as possible,” Moon told a meeting with his aides earlier in the day, according to Moon’s spokesperson Park Kyung-mee.
The government submitted the 14 trillion won (US$11.6 billion) budget proposal to the National Assembly last month.
The bill is being redrafted to increase the package to more than 16 trillion won.
Moon delivered a similar message on Feb. 8, saying, “We cannot delay support for small merchants and self-employed people even for a moment.”
Moon’s remarks came amid a tug-of-war between Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki and political parties that demand bigger spending from the government.
The ruling Democratic Party (DP) proposed a 35 trillion-won extra budget and the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) called for a 50 trillion-won supplementary budget. Hong has been opposing a sharp expansion of the extra budget, considering its impact on consumer prices and the state bond market.
The ruling party intensified pressure on the PPP for the approval of the extra budget bill, threatening to pass it unilaterally next week in case they fail to reach an agreement.
Floor leaders of the parties plan to meet Monday to discuss the issue.
Later Friday, DP members of the National Assembly Special Committee on Budget and Accounts occupied the committee’s meeting room, demanding the committee chair, affiliated with the PPP, convene a session to deal with the relief package. They plan to stage a sit-in throughout the weekend.
They also requested Parliamentary Speaker Park Byeong-seug use his authority to directly put the bill on a plenary vote.
Source: Yonhap News Agency