President Lee Jae-myung on the 12th, regarding the compilation of next year's government budget bill, said, "The world has changed a lot, and there is much we need to do, so we must cut so-called 'low-efficiency programs' as much as possible." The 2027 budget is the first budget that the Lee Jae-myung administration will fully lead throughout the entire compilation process.
The president presided over a cabinet meeting at Cheong Wa Dae that day and said, "It is important to increase the budget aggregates, but raising efficiency has the same effect as increasing the aggregates," adding this. In particular, while noting there will be resistance such as civil complaints and political pressure in the process of eliminating budget items, the president said, "If we wind down a program with 90% efficiency and use that money for a program with 100% efficiency, it is the same as increasing the budget by 10%. Evaluation is not easy, but we must be bold."
Lee said, "Last year, in effect, we could not compile the budget and were already dragged along by (the budget compiled by the previous administration). Next year gets harder. We must regard this year as the first and last chance," adding, "We must be cold-eyed. I hope there will be no cases where we fail to do what needs to be done. Please approach this with a new resolve."
The Ministry of Planning and Budget, newly established through a government reorganization, has designated 2027 as "the year of establishing a people-sovereign budget" and is preparing high-intensity expenditure restructuring. Specifically, programs that receive a reduction decision based on the integrated fiscal project performance evaluation will be cut by at least 15%, and programs decided for abolition will actually be abolished.
Minister Park Hong-geun said, "From the stage when each ministry requests its budget, consistent and strategic allocation of resources is necessary," adding, "Unprecedented expenditure restructuring is important to cover rising mandatory expenditure needs and to secure investment resources for key state agendas." He also said, "This year we must achieve the challenging goals of cutting 15% of fiscal expenditure and 10% of mandatory expenditure, and abolishing 10% of programs." In response, Lee said, "You really must do so."