President Lee Jae-myung noted on the 13th, "If I borrow a bucket of rice now and plant seeds to harvest a bag in the fall, then it is obvious that I should borrow and plant the seeds," suggesting an 'expansionary fiscal' stance regarding next year's budget. It appears he believes that expansionary finance is inevitable in response to economic slowdown and the trade war initiated by Trump.
On that day, President Lee presided over a 'national fiscal savings meeting' held in the expanded conference room on the 2nd floor of the Yongsan Presidential Office. The meeting served to examine issues with the existing budget plan alongside government and private sector experts, discussing areas that could be reduced or converted.
In his opening remarks, President Lee diagnosed, "In terms of farming, we need seeds to plant in the spring, but despite the national finances needing to fulfill that role, the recent national finances have become too weak, and now there is even a shortage of seeds to plant."
He went on to order the efficiency of national finances and restructuring of expenditures. President Lee said, "It seems that the government should do well in figuring out how to increase national revenue and how to address omissions in the revenue sector," adding, "It might be necessary to adjust budget expenditures in inefficient areas and transition them to efficient ones."
President Lee expressed, "While doing the nation's finances, there are many things to be done, but there is no money to spend, and there are many concerns. Now, there is a lot of land prepared, but since there are no seeds to plant, I feel frustrated to think about letting the land lie fallow."
"So, when I try to borrow seeds from the neighbor, there are people arguing, 'Why are you borrowing? You should live with what you have.'" He emphasized, "If I can borrow a bucket of rice and plant seeds to harvest a bag in the fall, then I should obviously borrow and plant the seeds. If the insistence is to 'not borrow' and 'live with what you have', it will prevent farming." He added, "It would be good to think together about these aspects as well."
The meeting was attended by presidential office officials including Executive Secretary Kang Hoon, Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom, Chief Economic Growth Advisor Ha Joon-kyung, and Budget Planning Advisor Ryu Deok-hyun, along with director-general level officials from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and other related ministries, as well as private sector experts.
The government plans to actively incorporate the opinions presented at the meeting into the budget preparation process for next year.