[News Today] 2nd extra budget plan discussed

[LEAD]
On his first evening in office, President Lee Jae-myung called together an emergency economy task force. At the top of the agenda was a detailed discussion on the scale of a large supplementary budget.

[REPORT]
It is clear President Lee Jae-myung wants to increase government expenditure.

He believes it's time for the government to spend money to revive domestic demand.

Lee Jae-myung / President
Using the national budget as a catalyst, we will revive the virtuous cycle of the economy.

The so-called essential supplementary budget approved by the National Assembly last month amounts to 13.8 trillion won, or over 10 billion U.S. dollars.

The budget accounted for 40% of the Democratic Party's initial demand of 35 trillion won or nearly 25.7 billion dollars.

The major projects dropped from the May extra budget will be added to the second additional budget plan.

Lee Jae-myung / Then DP presidential candidate (May)
When the economy is slow, the gov't should help with increased fiscal spending.

The amount of the supplementary budget hasn't been fixed yet, but it's very likely to be over 30 trillion won or about 22 billion dollars, since that was the sum People Power Party presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo had proposed.

The main budget for this year stands at 673 trillion won.

The amount comes to 687 trillion won when the first supplementary budget is added.

If the second supplementary budget is added, government expenditure will certainly exceed 700 trillion won or some 515 billion dollars for the first time.

Controversy over rising national debt could spark again.

Prof. Park Ki-baek / University of Seoul
Moderate tax increase is necessary, because we can't keep recording a deficit of nearly KRW 100 tn.

It's highly likely that the budget plan would be announced in July.

The new administration plans to fix the second supplementary budget plan by the time economic policies for the remainder of the year are announced.

This is why the Lee Jae-myung administration reviewed each ministry's projects eligible for extra money during Wednesday's emergency economy task force meeting.