Govt. will submit extra ‘coronavirus’ budget bill this week

South Korea’s government will be submitting an extra budget bill this week to cope with the fast spread of the new coronavirus, the country’s top fiscal policymaker said Monday, requesting cooperation from parliamentarians.

Though specific details have yet to be yet revealed, the budget will far exceed the 6.2 trillion won ($5.18 billion) allotted in 2015 to deal with the outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome.

“The government’s supplementary budget bill will be handed in to the National Assembly on March 5,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki in a government-ruling party consultative meeting on budgetary matters at the National Assembly.

“(The Ministry of Economy and Finance) has made all efforts to speed up (the budget-drafting procedure). Last week, (I) stayed up most nights to review the bill.”

Mentioning the plight of COVID-19 patients and the distress that the disease has caused small business owners, the minister appeared choked up with emotion, at a temporary loss for words in mid-speech.

“Without quarantine, there can be no economy at all,” he said, adding that the best way to overcome the prolonged economic fallout is to end the epidemic by any means.

The budget, if it is approved by the parliament, will be used to finance the government’s quarantine measures and to support small business owners whose business has suffered as a result of the outbreak and the consequent dip in consumer sentiment. It will also include compensation for hospitals and other businesses that had to shut down.

As for the Daegu and North Gyeongsang area, where the damage is the most extensive, the government will allocate special funds to enhance the medical infrastructure and support local industries, according to the minister.

Meanwhile, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea said the budget to be submitted would surpass the 6.2 trillion won mark.

“The scale (of the extra budget) may not yet be revealed at this point but will far exceed 6.2 trillion won, which was the scale of the budget drawn up during the MERS crisis in 2015,” said Rep. Cho Jeong-sik, the party’s policy chief.

The government and ruling party also agreed to expand emergency subsidies for small businesses and business owner-operators by 2 trillion won.

Addressing the revenue perspective, Rep. Kim Chung-woo -- party representative on the parliamentary finance committee -- said a special taxation law to alleviate the tax burden on ailing industries would be enacted within the week, along with the expenditure plans.

Rival political parties earlier agreed to pass the upcoming budget bill during the extraordinary parliamentary session that is to end March 17.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)