ARIRANG NEWS 20:00 Hello, everybody. Thanks for joining us. Live from Seoul, I′m Kang Chery. Title: Korean gov′t to raise budget spending by $19 bil. in 2015 The Korean government has laid out the budget for next year,... raising the spending plan by the largest amount since the global financial crisis in 2008. Officials say... their expansionary policies are essential… in pulling the economy out of a low-growth trap. Hwang Ji-hye starts us off. The Korean government on Thursday unveiled its biggest spending increase in seven years for 2015,... underlining its determination to get the nation′s economy back on a normal growth track. In its new budget proposal... the finance ministry said it will raise spending by 5-point-7 percent from this year... to 376-trillion won, or roughly 360-billion U.S. dollars. "We raised spending by about 7-and-a-half billion dollars from our original plan. That′s a massive rise considering the government′s additional spending plans usually hovered around the 5 to 6 billion dollar level in the past." More than 30 percent of the 2015 budget will be spent on creating more jobs and improving welfare. It also calls for increasing expenditures in safety related government projects... like an overall inspection of safety facilities. The government aims to prevent large-scale accidents and disasters like April′s ferry sinking from happening again. The proposal... calls for a 32 billion dollar budget deficit... which would represent 2-point-1 percent of the nation′s GDP. But the ministry says... by breathing fresh life into the sputtering economic recovery,... the country would achieve fiscal balance within a few years. "The increased expenditure will result in a virtuous cycle as it will lead to more income and robust business activities that will, in turn, generate greater tax revenues." Korea′s debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to inch up next year from this year... but the government says... it still reflects Korea′s relatively sound fiscal health. It says... the mid-30 percent range is still much lower than the OECD average of around one-hundred-ten percent. The increased spending plan is projected to help the economy grow by four percent next year. Hwang Ji-hye, Arirang News. Title: Korea sets 513% tariff on rice imports Another plan.. laid out this time by the agriculture ministry... is fueling anger among the country′s farmers. The government announced today... it has set the tariff rate for imported rice... paving the way for Korea′s rice market to open up, starting next year. Ji Myung-kil has more. The Korean government has set its tariff on rice imports at 513 percent. The agriculture ministry said the high tariff will help protect Korea′s rice industry as imported rice will be more expensive. "We have prepared measures such as stabilizing the income of rice farmers, modernizing the rice farming industry and promoting the consumption of rice." La

• published: 18 Sep 2014
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