Farm ministry to front-load 2009 budget to help growth

By Lee Joon-seung
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Yonhap) -- The farm ministry said Monday that it will front-load
60.2 percent of its 15.9 trillion won (US$12.3 billion) 2009 budget in the first
half of next year to help bolster economic growth and create new jobs.

The expenditure is a sharp increase from 48 percent of the 2008 budget spent
during the same period of this year, the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries said in a policy report to President Lee Myung-bak.
Of the total, 9.6 trillion won will be used to fuel rural investment and create
36,000 new jobs, the ministry said. The government is aiming to create 100,000
new jobs in the new year.
The ministry's spending plan comes as the economy is headed for a sharp slowdown,
buffeted by a global slump. The government last week lowered its original goal of
4 percent growth for 2009 to 3 percent. The economy grew 5 percent in 2007.
According to the report, 2.1 trillion won will be allocated for land reclamation,
irrigation and water supply-related public works, which can create the most jobs.
Part of this money will be used to renovate the nation's four major rivers, --
Han, Nakdong, Geum and Yeongsan -- to better cope with floods and drought by
2011.
The ministry said it will try to raise agricultural exports to $5.3 billion in
2009 from this year's $4.5 billion through aggressive marketing efforts and
improved quality control.
The ministry, meanwhile, said it will make better use of 277,000 hectares of
forest land to help reduce the country's output of greenhouse gas emissions.
Seoul is currently not obliged under the Kyoto Protocol to cut greenhouse gas
emissions, but it may soon find itself taking measures to help contain global
warming. One hectare of forestland can absorb 7.3 tons of carbon dioxide per
year.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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