Since last month, the procedure to pay 3 million won in quarantine subsidies to small businesses whose sales have decreased due to high-intensity social distancing has begun.



Payment is expected as early as the middle of next month.



There is still a possibility that the payment time will be delayed or the amount of payment will increase during the deliberation and resolution stage of the National Assembly.



The government approved the first supplementary budget for 2022 at the Cabinet meeting today (21st), which includes such content.



The resolution of the State Council means that this supplementary budget bill worth 14 trillion won for small businesses and quarantine support will be finalized at the government draft stage and sent to the National Assembly, which has the authority to review and decide on the 24th.



This supplementary budget plan contains the contents of providing a quarantine subsidy worth 3 million won to 3.2 million small businesses and small businesses with reduced sales.



It covers not only industries subject to loss compensation, such as prohibition of gatherings and restrictions on business hours, but also industries that are not eligible for loss compensation, such as travel and lodging businesses.



The amount of resources invested in this project is 9.6 trillion won.



There is still a possibility that the scope and amount of the quarantine subsidy support will change during the parliamentary deliberation and resolution stage of the supplementary budget bill.



The Democratic Party of Korea previously proposed 25 to 30 trillion won as the size of this supplementary budget.



The position is to add 2.2 million self-employed workers, including special employment workers and freelancers, who were excluded from the previous supplementary budget, to the target of support.



The People's Power recently delivered an opinion to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance that the quarantine subsidy should be raised to a maximum of 10 million won.



We are calling for an increase in the loss compensation rate from the current 80% to 100% and the lower limit for loss compensation from 500,000 won to 1 million won.



However, Article 57 of the Constitution stipulates that "the National Assembly may not increase the amount of each item of the expenditure budget submitted by the government or install new items without the consent of the government", so whether the government accepts the request of the National Assembly is the key.




With this supplementary budget, the government also decided to increase the amount of financial loss compensation for small businesses by 1.9 trillion won from 3.2 trillion won to 5.1 trillion won.



As the amount of compensation for losses increases due to the extension of high-intensity quarantine measures, the financial resources are also reinforced accordingly.



In this year's budget, the government has previously increased the amount of compensation for losses from 2.2 trillion won to 3.2 trillion won.



An additional 1.5 trillion won will be invested to reinforce quarantine measures.



This includes the cost of increasing the number of beds for severe COVID-19 patients from 14,000 to 25,000, and purchasing an additional 400,000 edible medicines (to secure a total of 1 million).



In order to respond in a timely and prompt manner to unforeseen needs, such as quarantine spending, it was decided to secure an additional 1 trillion won in reserve.



The government has decided to issue 11.3 trillion won worth of government bonds to finance this fund.



With this, the total expenditure this year will increase to 621.7 trillion won.



The consolidated fiscal deficit, which shows the state of the country's livelihood, rises to 68.1 trillion won.



The national debt will rise to 175.7 trillion won, making the national debt-to-GDP ratio 50.1%.



The government is requesting the National Assembly to process the supplementary budget bill as soon as possible in consideration of the urgency of supporting small businesses and strengthening quarantine measures.



The ruling party is also in the position to complete the process by the 10th of the next month at the earliest, or the 14th of the next month at the latest.



The People's Power is demanding a massive increase, saying the 14 trillion won government bill is unreasonably insufficient.



If the National Assembly process ends on the 10th of next month as per the ruling party's plan, it is expected that the subsidy will be implemented from the middle of next month.



(Photo = Yonhap News)