National Assembly committee approves $9.75B plan to help boost domestic consumption

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National Assembly committee approves $9.75B plan to help boost domestic consumption

Published: 01 Jul. 2025, 14:02 Updated: 01 Jul. 2025, 19:54

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

The National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee holds a meeting in Yeouido, western Seoul, on April 28. [NEWS1]

The National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee on Tuesday approved a supplementary budget plan worth 13.2 trillion won ($9.75 billion) to fund consumer coupons aimed at revitalizing domestic consumption.

The bipartisan decision was reached during a subcommittee meeting on budget review and fund management.

The committee deleted a clause from the government’s original proposal that required the central government to provide 10.3 trillion won and local governments to utilize 2.9 trillion won for the coupon program. Under the revised plan, the central government will now cover the full cost.

Some lawmakers from both ruling and opposing parties had earlier raised concerns that requiring financially strained local governments to co-finance the program could worsen their finances. They had called for the central government to fully fund the initiative.

A separate 600 billion won supplementary budget earmarked for regional gift certificates — a core policy initiative of President Lee Jae Myung — was also approved without revision.

The committee plans to finalize the supplementary budget later in the afternoon during a full session. The proposal will then be submitted to the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Budget and Accounts for final deliberation and approval.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [[email protected]]