South Korea’s National Assembly approved a 62 trillion won supplementary budget aimed at supporting businesses hit by pandemic-related restrictions.
The amount approved was 2.6 trillion won more than the 59.4 trillion won announced last month and will mostly be used for cash handouts for small businesses and self-employed people to make up for losses incurred due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The additional spending comes after South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol pledged to compensate 5.5 million owners of small businesses for pandemic losses shortly before taking office on May 10.
The ministry says that it would not issue any bonds to fund the budget but instead would use tax revenue from existing spending plans.