Land ministry spends 15.96 tln won in H1 to stimulate regional economy

SEOUL, July 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's land and transport ministry said Thursday that it spent 15.96 trillion won (US$12.74 billion) during the first half of this year mainly to stimulate the regional economy and ease an overall economic downturn.

The amount accounts for 68.2 percent of what the ministry plans to spend for this
year and is also higher than its earlier spending target of 15.21 trillion won
during the January-June period, according to the Ministry of Land, Transport and
Maritime Affairs.
Most of the budget was used on building or improving roads, railways, ports and
water resources across the country, the ministry said. The expenditures are part
of government efforts to frontload its budget in the first half to stimulate
domestic demand and ease an economic downturn.
The South Korean economy is expected to shrink 1.5 percent this year, the first
minus growth in more than a decade, as a global recession will affect its
overseas shipments, the finance ministry earlier forecast.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
(END)