The Presidential Office has suggested the possibility of formulating an additional supplementary budget. However, the specific timing of its formulation is still under consideration.
On the 22nd, a senior official from the President’s office told Money Today’s the300 that “an active role of fiscal policy, including a supplementary budget, is not excluded,” but clarified that “there has been no decision on timing, such as at the beginning of the next year.”
The Presidential Office has previously maintained a stance of sound fiscal policy and has drawn a line against the opposition party’s demands for a supplementary budget. However, with sluggish domestic demand and slowing economic growth, there is a growing call to employ various policy tools in response.
Although the government has been tightening fiscal policies with each department cutting back their budgets, it seems they are considering the supplementary budget option as the economic downturn continues.
President Yoon Suk-yeol, during his first year in office in May 2022, formulated a supplementary budget of around 59 trillion won for small business owners affected by COVID-19. Since then, under the sound fiscal policy stance, supplementary budgets have not been formulated.
However, with the Presidential Office now considering a supplementary budget, there is cautious speculation that the government’s fiscal policy stance might be shifting from sound finance to expansionary finance.