2021 budget to help S. Korea's economy rebound from virus fallout: finance minister

SEJONG, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday that next year's budget will help South Korea's economy recover from the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Hong made the remarks shortly after the National Assembly passed a 558 trillion-won (US$506 billion) budget for 2021, a net increase of 2.2 trillion won to help virus-hit small merchants and secure vaccines.

"Next year, (the government) will surely achieve our economy's recovery and rebound," Hong said in a Facebook post.

It marked the first national budget approved by the National Assembly within the legal deadline since 2014, as fierce partisan wrangling often made it difficult to pass such bills on time.

Hong hailed lawmakers' approval of the 2021 budget within the legal deadline, saying the government will swiftly allocate the budget from Jan. 1 next year to help quickly overcome the pandemic.

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