The government plans to execute more than 60 percent of the 2023 budget in the first half of the year.
Finance minister Choo Kyung-ho disclosed the plan during an emergency meeting of economy-related ministers on Wednesday.
The finance ministry said difficulties in people’s livelihoods and exports are expected to rise in the first half of 2023, while pathways for economic growth are expected to recover in the second half amid improved conditions both at home and abroad.
The ministry said it is therefore imperative to swiftly inject funds to support the revitalization of the private sector amid a possibility that the economy will witness a sharp slowdown in the first half.
In particular, the government plans to frontload spending to fill 90 percent of its temporary jobs for the elderly and the vulnerable in the first half of the year. It plans to spend 70 percent of its 14-point-nine trillion won budget earmarked for this purpose to hire 940-thousand workers by June.
The government estimates that job growth will stand in the 100-thousand range this year, or just one-eighth of the level posted last year.
Source: KBS World Radio