The South Korean government has exceeded its planned fiscal spending earmarked for the first five months of the year as part of its efforts to stimulate the sluggish economy, the finance ministry said Wednesday.
The government earlier announced that it would spend some 60 percent of this year's 280 trillion won ($242 billion) budget set aside for the central government in the first half in order to get over tough challenges at home and abroad.
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said it has executed 135.1 trillion won of the budget in the first five months of the year, surpassing its planned spending of 129.4 trillion won over the January-May period.
"The government will make all-out efforts to implement the scheduled spending in the remaining period," the finance ministry said in a release.
South Korea has been facing a decline in exports and domestic demand since the latter half of last year, with global uncertainties including a possible U.S. rate hike and the so-called "Brexit" risks further muddying the waters.
The government came up with pump-priming measures in February, including budget frontloading and the resumption of an excise tax cut program to prop up the economy.
But the latest economic data showed tepid signs of recovery, forcing the government to take more aggressive fiscal interventions in the second half.
Asia's fourth-largest economy expanded 0.5 percent in the January-March period from the previous quarter, slowing from a 0.7-percent on-quarter expansion three months earlier. Its outbound shipments fell for 17 months in a row and industrial output remained in the doldrums for months.
The central bank unexpectedly cut the key rate to a record 1.25 percent for the first time in 12 months in an apparent move to fuel economic improvement.
The finance ministry will announce a package of additional stimulus measures next week, including a supplementary budget. (Yonhap)
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