Opposition party seeks for reduced supplementary budget

SEOUL, March 19 (Yonhap) -- The main opposition Democratic Party (DP) on Thursday said it will seek to pass an extra budget of 13.8 trillion won (US$9.92 billion)for fiscal 2009 to help stimulate the flagging economy, less than half of what the ruling party says the nation needs.

"The national debt will snowball because of the Lee Myung-bak government's
indiscreet tax cuts for the wealthy and irrational fiscal spending," DP Chairman
Chung Sye-kyun said in a press briefing.
"The DP will push for a 13.8 trillion won extra budget to help create new jobs
and provide aid for the common people," said Chung.
The vast gap is likely to flare into another confrontation between the rival
parties at a parliamentary session expected for next month after bitter clashes
erupted earlier in the year.
Earlier this week, the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) said it tentatively
decided to seek a supplementary budget of up to 29 trillion won for this year to
help resuscitate the nation's economy. The proposed amount represents about 10
percent of the government's 2009 budget of 284.5 trillion won.
"We're worried that the government budget is headed for a financial catastrophe
by the end of the administration," Chung said.
The DP's plan earmarks some 5.5 trillion won for assisting small business owners
and 2.9 trillion won for job creation in public and service sectors.
The opposition proposes pumping 2.6 trillion won towards inducing companies to
turn temporary workers into full-time employees and for emergency aid for
laid-off workers. Another 2.9 trillion won would go to helping the needy.
Chung also urged the government to curb its budget in proposed social overhead
capital projects, such as a multi-trillion-won project to restore the country's
four major rivers, and reduce tax breaks for conglomerates to cope with an
expected drop in tax revenue due to the economic downswing.