ID :
20004
Wed, 09/17/2008 - 19:20
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/20004
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Rival parties agree to approve supplementary budget
SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's rival parties on Wednesday agreed to pass a 4.57 trillion won (US$4 billion) supplementary budget bill to help alleviate the economic difficulties of ordinary households hit by rising energy and consumer prices.
Under the agreement reached at a meeting of floor leaders of the ruling Grand National Party and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), the parliament will approve the supplementary budget bill during a plenary session on Thursday, party officials said.
The 4.57 trillion won bill is an increase of 303.4 billion won from the original bill, with most of the increases to be spent to support financially strapped college students and subsidize energy expenses of nursing homes, said the officials.
The revision came after the DP boycotted parliamentary approval of the original bill last week, citing excessive financial subsidies given to inefficient public corporations.
Party officials say that the bulk of the supplementary budget will go to the Korea Electric Power Corp. and Korea Gas Corp., which have refrained from increasing their utility charges throughout this year at the request of the inflation-conscious government.
Under the agreement reached at a meeting of floor leaders of the ruling Grand National Party and the main opposition Democratic Party (DP), the parliament will approve the supplementary budget bill during a plenary session on Thursday, party officials said.
The 4.57 trillion won bill is an increase of 303.4 billion won from the original bill, with most of the increases to be spent to support financially strapped college students and subsidize energy expenses of nursing homes, said the officials.
The revision came after the DP boycotted parliamentary approval of the original bill last week, citing excessive financial subsidies given to inefficient public corporations.
Party officials say that the bulk of the supplementary budget will go to the Korea Electric Power Corp. and Korea Gas Corp., which have refrained from increasing their utility charges throughout this year at the request of the inflation-conscious government.
