South Korea's government ministries and agencies have requested a 6.6 percent hike in their budgets for next year as they want to spend more on welfare, education, and research and development (R&D), the finance ministry said Tuesday.

A total of 52 ministries and agencies asked for the central government to set aside a combined 364.7 trillion won for next year, compared with this year's 342 trillion won, according to the ministry.

The hike is mostly attributed to an 11.3 percent budget increase requested for the health, welfare and labor sectors. About 108.4 trillion won (US$94.6 billion) was demanded for those areas.

The amount of money requested for education also expanded 17.1 percent to 58.3 trillion won, the ministry said.

Requested money for R&D and national defense also grew 5.7 percent and 7.4 percent to 17.8 trillion won and 36.9 trillion won, respectively.

The budget request, however, for social overhead capital declined 12.9 percent to 21.2 trillion won. The budget for diplomatic and unification-related affairs also fell 3.2 percent to 4 trillion won, the ministry said.

Based on the requests, the ministry will have consultations with concerned parties in the months to come before determining its final budget proposal by the end of September. The ministry will then submit this proposal to the National Assembly for approval by Oct. 2.

The budget request comes as the government is striving to cut down on its spending and find new income sources amid worries that tax revenue could fall short of its expectations due to the prolonged economic slowdown.

In April, the government crafted a guideline in which it asked other ministries and agencies to review their large-scale projects before submitting budget plans for next year as part of efforts to reduce the overall spending and help secure money to meet growing fiscal demand from welfare and other areas. (Yonhap News)