Next year’s national budget to focus on investment, welfare, job growthThe government plans to allocate 22.6 trillion won ($19.8 billion) for social infrastructure projects next year, emphasizing that the 2012 budget plan, unveiled next week will focus on upping investment in public works, welfare and job growth.
The 22.6 trillion of budget for Social Overhead Capital, or SOC, represents how much Seoul wants to spend on improving the general facilities of state projects such as railroads and airports. The figure for next year is smaller than the 24.4 trillion won spent this year, but the ministry said it expects more funds to be injected for regional projects compared with this year now that the budget no longer includes allocations for the four-river project.
“Priority will be given to public transportation projects in need of immediate funding for PyeongChang Winter Olympics,” said Kim Dong-yeon, a senior financial official in charge of budget affairs.
Kim said part of the budget will be spent on helping regional projects run by small- and medium-sized companies. He noted there will be budget increases for research projects in new growth areas such as stem-cell research.
Four trillion won will be spent to help restructure the state-run National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, a project supported by Seoul for a more transparent supply chain of agricultural goods.
The Finance Ministry estimates the 2012 budget to range between 324 trillion won to 327 trillion won, up 4.8 to 5.8 percent from budget for this year. The increase is smaller than a 7.6 percent budget increase requested by government agencies in June.
“Our budget proposal focused not just on job creation and welfare but also on the fiscal side to prepare for the future and economic vitality,” Kim said.
The plan also focuses on maintaining fiscal health. The ministry plans to limit its annual expenditure growth to 4-5 percent and maintain income growth of 7 percent each year from 2011 to 2015.
The ministry said the government’s budget proposal will be finalized by next Tuesday and submitted to parliament for approval.
By Cynthia J. Kim (
cynthiak@heraldcorp.com)
