In drawing up budgets, gov’t will focus on jobs

As youth unemployment worsens, the government has decided to realign its budget to expand job opportunities for young people.

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance announced on Tuesday that it has adopted a new self-evaluation system under which different departments of the government will analyze the impact of some major projects on job creation.

That information will in turn be used to create budgets for projects the following year.

The projects will be selected from over 150 existing and future plans from 20 government departments. To qualify, the projects have to be directly related to job creation, have the potential to influence the job market or be worth more than 10 billion won ($8.6 million).

The self-evaluation system will be applied to several major projects as a trial run this year and gradually expand to have a more substantial impact on the 2018 budget.

The projects will be chosen by April 30.

The finance minister on Tuesday raised the need for more efficient management of budget spending.

“In light of the recent economic situation, the condition for next year’s fiscal management won’t be easy,” said Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho. “Although tax collection has improved slightly, we have to stay alert as uncertainties from the global market continue to expand.

“The role of the government treasury in stimulating the economy has been growth and includes creating jobs and fostering new growth engines while preparing for the future, amid increasing spending on welfare and mandatory expenditures such as pension and insurance payments due to a low birthrate and aging society.”

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]