Gov`t spends 171.5 tln won to bolster economy

SEOUL, July 15 (Yonhap) -- The government spent 171.5 trillion won (US$133.6
billion) during the first half of this year to help create more jobs and
stabilize the economy, the finance ministry said Wednesday.
The amount is equal to 64.8 percent of the 257.7 trillion won that the government
can spend on various projects for the entire year. The ratio is higher than its
initial spending target of 60.6 percent of the total budget, the Ministry of
Strategy and Finance said in a statement.
The government has been pushing to frontload its budget expenditures this year as
part of efforts to ease an economic downturn and stabilize the livelihood of
those most vulnerable to a protracted recession.
The government has spent a total of 52.9 trillion won on four major projects
directly related to such efforts, larger than an initially targeted 47.8 trillion
won, the ministry said.
The four projects include restabilizing the financial sector, which had been
rocked by the U.S. banking crisis, as well as job creation and social overhead
capital spending.
With weak exports and sluggish domestic consumption, South Korea's economy is
expected to contract 1.5 percent this year, the first minus growth in more than a
decade, according to the ministry.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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