Gov't spends 185.5 tln won to bolster economy

SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Yonhap) -- The government spent 185.5 trillion won (US$148.8
billion) of its annual budget during the first seven months of this year to help
create more jobs and stabilize the economy, the finance ministry said Wednesday.

It spent 179.6 trillion won out of 257.7 trillion won initially set aside as
state expenditure for the entire year, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said
in a statement. The ministry added that it used 5.9 trillion won from its extra
budget.
The total spending is equal to 68 percent of planned expenditure for this year.
It is also higher than an earlier target of injecting 177.7 trillion won during
the January-July period, the ministry noted.
The government has been pushing to frontload its budget expenditure this year as
part of efforts to ease an economic downturn and stabilize the livelihood of
those most vulnerable to a protracted slump.
The ministry said that its active spending paved the way for the economic
recovery and emphasized the importance of fiscal roles in keeping the upward
trend sustainable even during the second half.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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