<Anchor> The
government has moved forward by the date of the Cabinet meeting to cover heating costs for the vulnerable, and has processed a plan to spend 100 billion won in reserve funds.
President Yoon Seok-yeol ordered to review measures to reduce heating costs for the middle class as well as the vulnerable.
This is reporter Kim Ki-tae.
<Reporter>
The Cabinet meeting, which was held every Tuesday morning, has been moved forward by a day.
This is to expedite the Prime Minister's presidency of the agenda of spending 100 billion won in reserve funds to support heating costs for the vulnerable.
In addition to the existing budget of 80 billion won, a total of 180 billion won will be urgently invested in heating cost support for the vulnerable.
The meeting of the former vice ministers of the State Council was omitted, and the presidential sanction, which was given on the evening of the day of the State Council meeting or the next day, was immediately made in the afternoon.
This shows that the President's office is taking seriously the public sentiment caused by the heating cost crisis.
President Yoon ordered to expand the scope of heating cost support, which was limited to the vulnerable, to the middle class.
[Kim Eun-hye/President's Office of Public Relations: At the meeting of senior secretaries presided over by the president, the staff were instructed to actively consider ways to reduce the burden of heating costs on middle-class people.
] We reaffirmed our position that an increase is inevitable.
[Han Deok-soo/Prime Minister: The policy of suppressing the price that needs to be adjusted for a long time against the market without adjusting it is nothing other than a populist policy that adversely affects our economy.]
However, support for cash heating costs through the supplementary budget is a policy that runs counter to the philosophy of this government, so it seems that the troubles to find sharp countermeasures are deepening.
(Video coverage: Joo Beom · Choi Jun-sik, video editing: Park Ji-in)