Jin Seong-jun, the chairman of the policy committee of the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed the view that the public livelihood recovery support fund should be provided through the second supplementary budget. While emphasizing that universal support for the public is the principle to boost consumption, he also noted that selective support is possible considering the current financial situation of the government.
Chairman Jin stated on Facebook on the 11th that “the public livelihood recovery support fund must be reflected in this supplementary budget, and universal support is desirable to maximize the effect of boosting consumption,” noting that “the policy goal of the public livelihood recovery support fund is not so much to support living expenses as it is to promote overall consumption for the recovery of our economy.”
He further noted, “To maximize the effect, it is better to provide it to all citizens in the form of local currency with a set usage period,” emphasizing again, “The public livelihood recovery support fund should be universal support for all citizens. The Democratic Party proposed a public livelihood recovery consumption coupon worth 13 trillion won, supporting all citizens with a little more support for low-income groups.”
However, Chairman Jin said, “The issue is the government's financial capacity,” noting, “Due to the economic and financial policy failures of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, there is not enough financial capacity. If it is really difficult, I think we could set a certain range and provide selective support.” He added, “The Democratic Party will maintain the policy goal of boosting consumption for public livelihood recovery in collaboration with the government while comprehensively considering the financial situation.”
The Lee Jae-myung administration is expected to include the public livelihood recovery support fund in the second supplementary budget currently under discussion. Previously, the Democratic Party, in its own supplementary budget proposal announced in February, outlined the ‘public livelihood recovery consumption coupon’ policy, providing 250,000 won per person with an additional 100,000 won for low-income groups in the form of local currency.