Gyeonggi Province Secures Record 16.3767 Trillion Won in National Government Budget...5.518 Billion Won Increase from Previous Year

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province has secured 16.3767 trillion won in national government budget for fiscal year 2021.

The province announced on the 3rd that after analyzing the 2021 government budget revision bill that passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 2nd, it has secured a budget of 16.3767 trillion won, which is 551.8 billion won (3.5%) more than this year's 15.8249 trillion won and marks a record high.

The efforts of Governor Lee Jae-myung of Gyeonggi Province are regarded as having borne fruit, as he held budget policy consultation meetings regardless of party affiliation among National Assembly members and appealed for the necessity of securing national budget.

According to data analyzed by Gyeonggi Province on the 3rd, the size of national budget for Gyeonggi Province included in the government budget proposal was 16.1506 trillion won, but 226.1 billion won was increased during the National Assembly deliberation process.

Of the increased 226.1 billion won across 101 business projects, 120.3 billion won was allocated to 46 social overhead capital (SOC) projects including the Guri-Anseong Expressway at 13 billion won, 39 billion won to 6 welfare projects including the operation of the Ansan Mental Health Center at 9.5 billion won, and 66.8 billion won to 49 other projects including vehicle emission reduction business at 28.6 billion won, compared to the government budget proposal.

Gyeonggi Province explained that as a result of making an all-out effort to defend against budget cuts in the regional currency project, it secured 1.0552 trillion won, approximately 15 times higher than about 70 billion won this year, without any cuts in the government budget proposal.

With this, the nationwide regional currency issuance is projected to reach 15 trillion won next year.

Governor Lee Jae-myung appealed to the National Assembly for increased regional currency budget due to economic downturn from COVID-19 and revitalization of local small businesses and alleyway commerce.

The Seohae Line double-track railway project mentioned by Governor Lee Jae-myung at the 'Gyeonggi Province-National Assembly Members Budget Policy Consultation Meeting' was finalized at 593 billion won, an increase of 13 billion won compared to the government proposal of 580 billion won.

Including this, the entire SOC budget centered on railway and road projects increased from 4.0760 trillion won in 2020 to 4.1697 trillion won in 2021, an increase of 93.7 billion won (2.3%), securing the highest SOC budget on record.

Health and welfare budgets increased from 8.4213 trillion won in 2020 to 8.9183 trillion won in 2021, an increase of 497 billion won (5.9%) compared to the previous year, leading the trend in national budget increases on the back of population growth in Gyeonggi Province and expansion of national welfare policies.

The environment and safety budget also increased by 348.4 billion won (33.3%) from 1.0450 trillion won in 2020 to 1.3934 trillion won in 2021, centered on the Korean New Deal project, showing the highest increase rate.

Governor Lee Jae-myung held a total of three rounds of policy consultation meetings from March onwards with National Assembly members from Gyeonggi Province and key leadership of the Democratic Party and People Power Party, and visited the National Assembly to appeal for national budget support.

In particular, at the 'Democratic Party-Gyeonggi Province Budget Policy Consultation Meeting' held in July, he explained the effects of Gyeonggi Province's disaster basic income linked to regional currency and formed consensus on the necessity of increasing the regional currency budget.