Gov't pushes to meet first-half spending target as public-sector outlays top 348 trillion won

The government is accelerating first-half fiscal spending to support economic recovery and stabilize livelihoods.

Public-sector rapid spending has surpassed 348 trillion won, rising more than 16 trillion won from a year earlier, while the supplementary budget execution rate has cleared 70 percent. The government said it will redouble efforts to meet its first-half spending target.

Im Ki-geun, vice minister of the Ministry of Planning and Budget, chaired the 11th Fiscal Execution Review Meeting at Government Complex Sejong on Friday. The session, convened jointly with related ministries, assessed the status of first-half base-budget rapid spending and supplementary budget execution.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Budget, public-sector rapid spending — covering fiscal outlays, public institutions and private investment — stood at 348.4 trillion won on a base-budget basis as of June 5. That is 16.8 trillion won more than the same period last year.

Among priority-managed projects, 22.2 trillion won of a total 34.5 trillion won had been spent, putting the execution rate at 64.4 percent. The government plans to continue monitoring spending progress project by project to reach its first-half target of 70 percent.

Supplementary budget spending is also picking up pace. Of the 10.5 trillion won designated for rapid-execution management, 7.4 trillion won has been disbursed so far, for an execution rate of 71 percent. The government is strengthening cross-ministry spending oversight to ensure the effects of supplementary budget programs — including high oil-price relief measures — materialize as early as possible.

Particularly notable is the high oil-price victim support fund: 4.7 trillion won of the 4.8 trillion won in national funds has been disbursed, achieving a 99 percent execution rate. As of May 28, cumulative applicants totaled 32.38 million, and total payments — including local government funds — reached 5.7 trillion won. The government said the program is helping ease household fuel costs and revitalize local commercial districts.

"Thanks to the efforts of each ministry to meet the first-half spending target, overall execution is tracking well," Im said, urging officials to ensure spending plans are carried out without disruption through the remainder of the period. He added that the focus should go beyond simply raising execution rates. "We must continuously check for obstacles in individual projects, clear procedural bottlenecks and stay on top of follow-up management so that the public can actually feel the benefits of fiscal support," he said.