President Lee Jae-myung on the 1st said, "An interest rate hike is unavoidable," and noted, "Fiscal policy must take on a precise role to minimize the pain for vulnerable groups from higher rates and to ensure growth potential is not damaged."
Presiding over a Cabinet meeting that morning, Lee said, "We now stand at a crossroads between entrenched low growth and a rebound in potential growth. We urgently need a 'productive virtuous-cycle fiscal strategy' that expands the economic pie with increased future resources and upgrades industrial capabilities, thereby expanding fiscal capacity," and stated accordingly.
Lee said, "Politics must also pool wisdom and strength for a new leap in the national economy," and added, "If the National Assembly broadly gathers public opinion during the budget review process and supplements what is needed, the government asks that it be actively respected."
He added, "We expect broad cooperation from the political sphere so that the budget plan will create hope that tomorrow will be better than today for all people."
The government on the same day will review and approve at the Cabinet meeting its draft budget for next year, projected at "800 trillion+α." It will be the second main budget since the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration and is expected to be drawn up as a "super budget" with total expenditures of more than 800 trillion won.
Also, a tax reform plan that raises the tax burden on nonresident single-home owners will be reviewed and approved at the Cabinet meeting that day.