NEWSLINE AT NOON 12:00 Coming up on this Thursday edition of Newsline at Noon,... the Korean government proposes the biggest spending increase in seven years for its 2015 budget... in an indication of its determination to revitalize the economy. The government plans to impose a tariff of more than 500 percent on rice imports as it begins opening its rice market next year in the face of strong protests by farmers. Plus,... voters in Scotland will soon head to the polls to decide whether they stay a part of.... or break away from the United Kingdom. These stories and more on Newsline at Noon. It′s noon, Thursday, September 18th... here in Korea... Thanks for tuning in. Live from Seoul... I′m Eoh Jin-joo. Good to have you with us,.... I′m Mark Broome. Title: Korean gov′t to raise budget spending by $19 bil. in 2015 Our top story this lunchtime.... The Korean government has laid out its budget plan for next year... that raises spending by the largest amount... since the onset of the 2008 global financial crisis. The finance ministry says... its expansionary fiscal policies are necessary to pull the economy out of a low-growth trap. Hwang Ji-hye starts us off. The government will maintain its expansionary economic policies in 2015 as it looks to boost the nation′s sluggish growth rate. In its budget proposal, laid out during a Cabinet meeting on Thursday,... the finance ministry said it will raise budget spending by 5-point-7 percent from this year... to 376-trillion won, or roughly 360-billion U.S. dollars. The ministry expects the increased expenditure to actively boost the economy. It said that, although the move could threaten the nation′s fiscal soundness in the short term,... the greater priority now is on breathing fresh life into the sputtering economic recovery. That way... the ministry believes Korea will be able to achieve long-term fiscal balance through increased tax revenues... generated on the back of strong economic activities. The government expects tax revenues to rise on average 5-point-1 percent annually from 2014 through 2018... as the increased spending plan is projected to help the economy grow by four percent next year. Korea′s debt-to-GDP ratio, however,... is expected to rise about one percentage point in 2018 from this year... to over 36 percent. The government says a national debt-to-GDP rate in the mid-30 percent range reflects Korea′s relatively healthy fiscal situation... as it′s still much lower than the OECD average of around one-hundred-ten percent. The expansionary budget also includes increasing expenditure in safety related government projects... like an overall inspection of safety facilities. The government wants to prevent large-scale accidents and disasters like April′s ferry sinking from happening again. The new budget proposal is in line with the government′s recent efforts to prop up growth... that included an additional spending plan worth 11 billion dollars in the second hal

• published: 18 Sep 2014
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