PRESIDENT MOON ON FINANCIAL STRATEGY

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At a national financial strategy meeting held on Monday, President Moon Jae-in ordered his administration to deploy all possible fiscal tools as if in "wartime." The government is also set to announce a third extra budget soon.

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Two extra budgets worth a combined 24 trillion won have been set so far. Ahead of setting an unprecedented third extra budget, President Moon Jae-in stressed that the country is in a state of emergency.

[Soundbite] PRES. MOON JAE-IN : "It's a warlike situation in the true sense of the word. We must deploy all fiscal means as if in wartime."

He urged the National Assembly to pass the third extra budget bill within next month. Its scale is expected to surpass those of the previous two budgets.

[Soundbite] PRES. MOON JAE-IN : "Our finances must act as a remedy during economic crises and a vaccine for strengthening the immune system of our economy in the post-coronavirus era."

Regarding concerns about Korea's deteriorating fiscal integrity, Moon emphasized a virtuous cycle of spending. He said spending state funds to ward off a crisis will help the economy to recover and businesses and households to earn more money in the long run. That in turn will lay a foundation for more taxes. Instead, the president said that expenditures at the bottom of the priority list must be boldly restructured. A Cheong Wa Dae official said representatives of the ruling party and the government who attended the meeting agreed with the president.

[Soundbite] CHO YOUNG-MOO(LG ECONOMIC RESEARCH INSTITUTE) : "Despite concerns about deteriorating fiscal integrity, increasing government spending appears inevitable in the short term under the current economic conditions. However, to spend hard-earned taxes in an effective way, measures are needed to enhance the efficiency of government spending."

Prime Minister Chung Se-kyun also called for efficient budget planning and execution. The government will announce its economic policies for the second half of the year after discussing them with the Emergency Economic Council.