South Korea aims to roll out a $17 billion "wartime" supplementary budget and expand fuel tax cuts as the war in Iran pushes up energy prices, the government said on Thursday. Officials aim to "draw up a supplementary budget worth 25 trillion won next month — funded by excess tax revenue — in response to the prolonged Middle East conflict", the government said in a statement.
Budget minister Park Hong-keun also said the bill aims to support small and mid-sized firms and vulnerable households hit by the prolonged war. "We will first ease the burden on citizens caused by high oil prices and support the smooth implementation of an oil price cap system to stabilise domestic fuel prices and reduce fuel costs," Park said. Han Byung-do, the ruling Democratic Party's floor leader, said it and the government would accelerate their review of the budget bill in the National Assembly, stressing there was "no reason for any delay".
President Lee Jae Myung earlier urged the government to prepare a supplementary budget aimed at steadying the economy, supporting impacted industries and strengthening supply chain resilience. To ease the impact of rising energy prices, fuel tax cuts will also be expanded — to 15 per cent from 7 per cent on gasoline and to 25 per cent from 10 per cent on diesel, the finance ministry said in a separate statement. Lee said the ongoing energy crunch could "impose unexpected burdens and inconvenience across people's daily lives". — AFP
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