Lee says that priority should be expanding economic pie rather than welfare
But President Lee Jae Myung stressed that his remarks didn't mean that the government has cut back on welfare.
President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a Cabinet meeting at the Blue House in central Seoul on Sept. 1.
YONHAP
President Lee Jae Myung said on Wednesday that pursuing both economic growth and welfare expansion is unrealistic for now and stressed that expanding the economic pie rather than welfare should be prioritized.
The president wrote the message on his X account. He uploaded a media column arguing that the government’s budget bill for next year relatively lacked spending on “distribution.”
“Giving up growth while expanding welfare should never happen, [but] pursuing the expansion of both growth and welfare is ideal but unrealistic,” Lee wrote, adding, “Now is inevitably the time to focus on growth to expand the pie.”
But the president stressed that the government has not cut back on welfare.
“If we […] head toward zero or negative growth, [economic] polarization would worsen and could even lead to a decline in welfare,” he wrote.
The president added that the government is also focusing on improving welfare policies and that more time would be needed for additional measures.
The previous day, the government proposed a record 820.9 trillion won ($600.66 billion) budget for next year, up more than 10 percent from this year, following expectations of increased tax revenue stemming from a semiconductor boom.
During a Cabinet meeting the same day, Lee cited bolstering the country’s global industrial competitiveness as one of next year’s budget goals.
Appearing on broadcaster CBS’s radio program, a presidential aide said that the government is expected to collect more than 200 trillion won in corporate tax next year thanks to the chip boom, calling it a “jackpot.”
Ryu Deok-hyun, the presidential aide for fiscal planning, noted that tax revenue is expected to exceed 580 trillion won in 2027.
“Anything over 400 trillion won should be considered enormous,” he said. “The government using that tax money to purchase public resources needed by everyone is what constitutes a budgetary, fiscal decision.”
Ryu cited the semiconductor boom and an anticipated rise in tax collection from increased income, stock trading and consumption as factors that made it possible for the government to draft a record-high budget for 2027.
Yonhap
