The Special Committee on Budget & Accounts finalized the review schedule for next year's budget bill and fund management plan. Starting with a public hearing on the 5th of next month, the committee plans to hold two days of comprehensive policy inquiries from the 6th and finish ministry-by-ministry reviews by the 13th.
On the 22nd, Special Committee on Budget & Accounts Chairperson Han Byung-do and the ruling and opposition party secretaries, Representative Lee So-young of the Democratic Party of Korea and Representative Park Hyung-soo of the People Power Party, agreed on this review schedule.
First, the budget public hearing will be held at the National Assembly at 2 p.m. on the 5th of next month. A total of five will speak: three from the Democratic Party and two from the People Power Party. The hearing will focus on the Ministry of Economy and Finance's plan for next year's total expenditure, revenue outlook, and the restructuring direction of the fund management plan.
The comprehensive policy inquiries, the first major gateway of the review, will be held over two days from Nov. 6 to 7. The committee will introduce the motion to form the budget subcommittee and the limits for the budget bill, the fund management plan, and BTL (build-transfer-lease) projects, and then proceed with the comprehensive policy inquiries. Prime Minister Kim Min-seok and Minister Koo Yun-cheol of the Ministry of Economy and Finance are expected to attend.
Next, from the 10th to the 13th, ministry-by-ministry reviews will be conducted over four days, two days each for economic and noneconomic ministries.
The Budget Adjustment Subcommittee, the core of the review, will begin its work at 10 a.m. on Nov. 17. The subcommittee will enter into substantive budget deliberations, focusing on increase and decrease adjustments proposed by each standing committee. The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance and senior budget officials from key ministries will attend.
The schedule for the full meeting of the Special Committee on Budget & Accounts to vote on the subcommittee's conclusions is undecided. The ruling and opposition parties plan to hold in-depth discussions with the goal of submitting the budget bill to the plenary session by the legal deadline of Dec. 2.
Earlier, the government submitted to the National Assembly a 728 trillion won budget plan for next year. This is an 8.1% increase from this year's main budget. General account expenditure is 507.4 trillion won, up 7.1% from this year, and special accounts expenditure is 117.3 trillion won, up 16% in the same period. Total revenue is projected at 674.2 trillion won, up 3.5% from this year.