Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol, second from left, speaks at a fiscal execution review meeting held at the government complex in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol on Monday urged government ministries to thoroughly prepare for the swift execution of their budgets for next year to drive economic growth and support people’s livelihoods, his office said.
“On Tuesday, the National Assembly passed the budget for 2026 within the legal deadline for the first time in five years,” Koo said during a fiscal execution review meeting, attended by officials from the science, defense, culture, agriculture and other ministries.
“As the budget has been swiftly finalized, we will thoroughly prepare in advance for its execution so that we can actively support the realization of an innovation-driven economy and the stabilization of people’s livelihoods,” he added, urging the ministries to complete devising their project plans by the end of this month.
Last week, the Assembly endorsed a government budget bill of 727.9 trillion won ($493.5 billion) for next year that calls for more spending to prop up the economy and on national defense.
Koo also called on the ministries to continue efforts to fully execute the 2025 budget and two extra budgets devised this year to boost domestic consumption and economic recovery.
As of end-November, 90.1 percent of this year’s main budget has been executed, according to the finance ministry.
Some 94 percent and 98 percent of the supplementary budgets have each been executed as end-November, it added.