Parties agree to vote on extra budget bill in late April

SEOUL, March 31 (Yonhap) -- Ruling and opposition parties agreed Tuesday to vote
on a government-proposed 28.9 trillion won (US$20.7 billion) extra budget bill
late next month during an extraordinary parliamentary session.
Representatives from the ruling Grand National Party, the main opposition
Democratic Party (DP), and the alliance of minor Renewal of Korea Party and the
Liberty Forward Party, agreed after some wrangling to begin a 30-day
extraordinary session on Wednesday and to hold a plenary session on April 29 to
vote on the supplementary budget bill.
Last week, the government endorsed the country's largest-ever extra budget aimed
at creating jobs and reviving the economy, which is feared to slip into the first
recession in more than a decade. South Korea's economy grew 2.2 percent last
year, but the government forecast a 2 percent contraction for this year, with
some 200,000 jobs to be cut from payrolls.
The DP announced earlier this month that it was seeking to halve the extra budget
to 13.8 trillion won, calling for a more fiscally conservative budget.
Parties also agreed to hold another plenary session on Wednesday, and two more on
April 17 and April 30 to vote on other pending bills. They also agreed to hold
interpellation on the second week of April to review a variety of government
operations ranging from diplomacy and North Korea-related issues to the economy.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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