Gov't, ruling party agree on 28.9 tln won extra budget

SEOUL, March 23 (Yonhap) -- The government and the ruling Grand National Party
(GNP) on Monday reached a tentative agreement to create a supplementary budget of
28.9 trillion won (US$20.6 billion), accelerating their bid for job creation and
economic recovery, officials said.

The tentative agreement was announced after a meeting of top government and GNP
officials, including Prime Minister Han Seung-soo and GNP Chairman Park Hee-tae.
"The government and the GNP shared a consensus on exerting greater fiscal efforts
to help create more job opportunities, stabilize public livelihood and speed up
economic recovery," GNP spokesman Yoon Sang-hyun said after the meeting.
"The volume of the supplementary budget will eventually be set at around 29
trillion won later this week."
The government is expected to make a formal announcement on Tuesday before
sending it to parliament for approval.
Yoon explained that the supplementary budget will be primarily aimed at lifting
the nation's economic growth rate by 1.5 to 2 percentage points, creating about
550,000 new jobs and offering tax reductions of about 11 trillion won.
South Korea's economy is projected to record its first negative growth this year
in a decade as it reels from the global downturn.
Yoon predicted the extra budget will help the nation increase its current account
surplus to $13 billion this year.
In addition, trillions of won will be spent to support small- and medium-sized
exporters and self-employed individuals, beef up social safety nets and invest in
future-oriented business projects, he said.
The extra budget, if confirmed, would represent about 10 percent of the
government's 2009 budget of some 284.5 trillion won.
ycm@yna.co.kr