Seoul, Sep 10 (IANS): South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday unveiled a fourth supplementary budget worth 7.8 trillion won ($6.6 billion), to tackle the economic fallout from the Covid-19 resurgence.
Speaking at the eighth round of emergency economic council meeting, the President said that it would be an “tailored” relief package to provide a heaviest financial support for those who suffered the most from the outbreak, reports Xinhua news agency.
Moon noted that the government’s support will be focused on the self-employed and micro-business owners who were hit hardest by the resurgence, saying that 3.8 trillion won of the total would be spent on 3.77 million people.
Under the supplementary budget plan, micro-business owners and the self-employed would receive up to 2 million won in cash handouts.
Of the extra budget, 1.4 trillion won will be spent to safeguard 1.19 million jobs, Moon said.
The budget plan now requires parliamentary approval.
The first extra budget plan worth 11.7 trillion won was passed through the National Assembly on March 17, followed by the second one worth 12.2 trillion won on April 30 and the third one worth 35.1 trillion won on July 3.
As part of the supplementary budget, the government offered relief grants to all households in May, but the fourth extra budget will mainly support the micro-business owners who suffered the most from the pandemic.
The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases grew in triple digits since August 14 owing to cluster infections traceable to church services and a massive rally held in Seoul on August 15 by conservative voters.
The government tightened the social-distancing guidelines to contain the virus spread, encouraging people to stay at home and avoid social gatherings and outside activity, such as eating out and shopping.
As of Thursday, South Korea has reported a total of 21,743 coronavirus cases and 346 deaths.
