SEOUL, March 31 (Xinhua) -- South Korea on Tuesday unveiled an extra budget bill of 26.2 trillion won (17.1 billion U.S. dollars) to tackle the Middle East crisis and support people's livelihood.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung presided over the cabinet meeting to approve the bill, marking the second supplementary budget plan since the Lee administration was inaugurated last June.
The budget plan consisted of 10.1 trillion won to alleviate the burden of high oil prices on people, 2.8 trillion won to support people's livelihood, 2.6 trillion won to minimize industrial damage and stabilize supply chains, 9.7 trillion won to bolster local government finances and 1.0 trillion won for national debt payment.
It was aimed to stabilize people's livelihood and support affected industries as well as fund projects for transitioning to new energy industries, according to the Ministry of Planning and Budget.
The extra budget was funded mainly by excess tax revenue, driven by the boom in the semiconductor industry and stock markets.
The government planned to submit the supplementary budget bill to the National Assembly later in the day.
Ruling and opposition parties agreed to vote on the proposal at a plenary session on April 10. ■
