Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok noted regarding the role of national finances that "it is right to maintain the sustainability of finances and keep the balance while focusing on vulnerable groups" on the 29th.
On this day, Deputy Prime Minister Choi responded to a question from People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jong-wook, who claimed that there is a strong warning from credit rating agencies concerning the expansive fiscal policy of the Democratic Party of Korea.
Deputy Prime Minister Choi said, "The role of finance is not to maintain fiscal soundness as the ultimate goal," adding, "Maintaining the sustainability of finances means that we should perform the role of finance for future generations for a long time, so temporarily, the role of finances is needed." He continued, "However, there is still a need for the role of finances concerning welfare expenditure, and our government has been working on that. Nevertheless, there may be various perspectives on the role of finances for economic revitalization."
He also stated, "There is a very significant meaning in the sustainability when we use finances," and added, "Future generations must not bear the burden." He expressed that there were concerns regarding the call from some political circles for a second supplementary budget after the June 3rd presidential election, saying, "When I met with credit rating agencies, there were indeed concerns about such issues."
Deputy Prime Minister Choi also said during the previous day's budget bill review meeting that "if the scale of the supplementary budget is set too high, the evaluations from credit rating agencies regarding the government bonds market or the sustainability of finances will not be good."