Seoul: The government will execute 70 percent of the recently passed 13.8 trillion-won (US$9.9 billion) extra budget within three months to boost the local economy and support export companies amid global trade uncertainties, the finance ministry said Thursday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced the plan at a meeting of economy-related ministers, emphasizing that the swift execution is aimed at maximizing the impact of fiscal spending. The extra budget, which received approval from the National Assembly last week, includes approximately 400 billion won allocated for the issuance of local currency vouchers to assist small merchants and 89.8 billion won worth of vouchers for export firms struggling due to global trade protectionism influenced by the U.S. administration's tariff scheme. This initiative will enable companies to start utilizing export vouchers worth a combined 178.6 billion won in June and access a new 4 trillion-won low-interest loan program later this month.
In addition, small merchants will become eligible for up to 500,000 won in support to cover utility and insurance bills starting in July, as outlined by the ministry. Efforts to enhance South Korea's artificial intelligence (AI) industry are also underway, with plans to open bidding for a 1.7 trillion-won project aimed at securing high-performance graphic processing units (GPUs) in May and launching a project to develop global-level large language models in July.
"Our economy is facing greater uncertainty than ever before," acting Finance Minister Kim Beom-suk stated, highlighting concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump's administration's tariff policies and domestic political uncertainties amid a leadership vacuum, following the recent resignation of former Prime Minister and acting President Han Duck-soo and former Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok.
Kim reassured that the government will remain focused on managing risks and key issues to ensure stability and public confidence through the remainder of the current administration.