S. Korea's ruling party, gov't and presidential office discuss extra budget for COVID-19 countermeasures 당정청, 추경 신속 추진…무상마스크•신천지 폐쇄 검토
Officials from South Korea's ruling party, government and presidential office gathered in Seoul this morning for an emergency consultation on the outbreak.
Among other things, they agreed to approve an extra budget and emergency funding to fight the virus itself... and to help local businesses that've been hurt by it.
Our Kim Dami has the details.
Vowing to pour all its efforts and resources into tackling the coronavirus crisis, South Korea's ruling party, government and top office pledged on Tuesday to draw up a substantial supplementary budget as quickly as possible.
"If approval of the budget is delayed, an emergency financial order should be invoked to ensure the funds are freed up."
Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said that, instead of waiting for a supplementary budget to pass the National Assembly, the government should dip into one-point-six billion U.S. dollars worth of reserve funds.
He added the first relief package will be announced by the end of the week.
Specifically, the three sides will unveil unprecedented measures for small businesses that are beginning to buckle due to the financial toll caused by the outbreak.
"The measures will ease the burden and difficulties faced by small businesses like those in the tourism industry. It's also essential we provide much-needed aid to Daegu and the surrounding Gyeongsangbuk-do province."
Ensuring a sufficient supply of protective face masks was also on the agenda.
As demand has been skyrocketing amid the outbreak, officials will distribute masks for free through public institutions.
"As the supply remains unstable, we've decided to provide a certain amount of masks to public institutions like Nonghyup."
New mask related measures also include limiting mask exports to keep all locally-produced masks in the country.
To stop the virus spreading from the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, government officials are considering whether to shut down all Shincheonji-related facilities and impose thorough quarantine process for all of its members.
Shincheonji is the religious group from which a large number of the confirmed cases in South Korea originated.
In addition, the three sides once again pledged to tighten quarantine steps in Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do Province.
Kim Dami, Arirang News.
#COVID19 #coronavirus #presidential
Arirang News Facebook:
0 Comments