Seoul: Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol announced plans to inject an additional 7 trillion won (US$5.03 billion) by the end of this year to stimulate investments from public institutions, aiming to revitalize the economy facing a prolonged slowdown. This announcement was made during Koo's first official press briefing since assuming office, where he detailed the ministry's macroeconomic management priorities.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Koo emphasized that the government will implement an additional budget execution of 7 trillion won through public institutions by year-end. The ministry's policy focus will be on responding to economic cycles, revitalizing livelihoods, and stabilizing consumer prices. Koo highlighted the importance of controlling inflation for essential living costs, specifically food prices, ahead of the Chuseok holiday early next month.

Koo mentioned that a comprehensive holiday support plan will soon be announced to ensure price stability and safeguard vulnerable groups. Recent data from Statistics Korea indicated that consumer prices rose 1.7 percent on-year in August, marking the slowest increase in nine months. However, the agency cautioned that this moderation might be temporary, noting that the inflation rate could have reached 2.3 percent in August if not for a significant drop in mobile phone fees.

The announcement follows the government's major restructuring plan that will remove the budget planning authority from the Ministry of Economy and Finance, establishing a new fiscal agency under the prime minister's office to assume this role.