Discussions on the supplementary budget formulation by the Lee Jae-myung administration are on track.
According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 5th, Deputy Minister Yu Byung-seo presided over a meeting of the Deputy Ministers for Planning and Coordination of each ministry at 10 a.m. The Ministry of Economy and Finance holds a meeting chaired by the budget director with the Deputy Ministers for Planning and Coordination of each ministry every early June. It is a place to discuss the 'budget request for the next year' submitted by each ministry by the end of May.
At the meeting, discussions were focused on the drafting of the supplementary budget along with the '2026 budget request.' In particular, it has been reported that discussions were held on each ministry's projects related to 'recovery of people's livelihoods,' which President Lee Jae-myung emphasized at the emergency economic task force (TF) meeting last night.
Deputy Minister Yu requested each ministry to discover livelihood projects to be included in the second supplementary budget and exchanged opinions on expenditure restructuring. The Ministry of Economy and Finance plans to report to the presidential office after discovering additional items and discussing the content of the meeting held today.
President Lee asked specific questions about the fiscal capacity and the immediate economic stimulus effect of the supplementary budget at the TF meeting last night and ordered active responses to stimulate the economy and people's livelihoods and risk management.
A high-ranking government official attending the TF meeting said, 'There was a request from President Lee that effective policies should be promoted in a situation where fiscal capacity is not abundant,' and 'He asked for a lot of good ideas.'
During the presidential election period, President Lee had announced plans for a large-scale supplementary budget aimed at economic and livelihood recovery. A specific project scale of 35 trillion won and key initiatives such as 'local currency' were also mentioned.
Observations suggest that inline with President Lee's promise, the scope of support could be slightly reduced in consideration of fiscal capacity, with the support provided to the entire population in the form of local currency. Additionally, to maximize the consumption-stimulating effect of the support, the scale of support disbursed to vulnerable groups with a higher marginal propensity to consume could be increased differentially.
An official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance said, 'During the process of discussing the supplementary budget at the meeting of the Deputy Ministers for Planning and Coordination, the importance of people's livelihood stability was emphasized to each ministry,' and 'As soon as the basic direction of the supplementary budget is confirmed, it will be prepared through official formulation procedures.'