President Lee: "Next year's growth outlook has improved… Passing the budget bill is important"

President Lee Jae-myung said on the 27th, "Timely passage of the (National Assembly's) budget bill is especially important to support South Korea's great leap next year." He urged that the National Assembly handle the new administration's first budget bill smoothly at the plenary session on the deadline of the next month on the 2nd. He also delivered guidance to boldly accept opposition party demands if they are reasonable.

At the senior secretaries and aides meeting he presided over that day, the president said, "There are institutions that are significantly raising next year's growth forecasts compared to before." The Bank of Korea raised its forecast for next year's economic growth rate from the previous 1.6% to 1.8% on the day, and the Korea Development Institute (KDI) on the 11th predicted next year's growth at 1.8%, 0.2% percentage points higher than before. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and our government also expect next year's growth rate to be 1.8%.

The president asked for bipartisan cooperation so that the budget can be processed within the statutory deadline to accelerate next year's economic growth. He also ordered that, during the review process through the 30th, if the opposition party's claims have merit, they should be boldly adopted. The ruling and opposition parties agreed that day at a meeting of floor leaders chaired by the Speaker of the National Assembly to handle the budget bill on the 2nd of next month.

Regarding the "super budget" of 728 trillion won for next year, the president said, "Major international institutions like the IMF highly evaluate our government's active fiscal management." This follows the IMF's diagnosis on the 24th that "at this time, accommodative monetary and fiscal policies are appropriate" in its "Republic of Korea Article IV Consultation" report. However, the IMF also advised in the same report that "after recovering potential growth, it will be necessary to adjust the fiscal policy stance."

At the meeting, the president mentioned impressions from his tour of the Middle East and Africa and emphasized the importance of the defense industry. Citing the Gaza Strip as an example, he said, "The international order is becoming increasingly unstable and national selfishness is deepening, and confrontational patterns between countries are gradually becoming more serious." He added, "Most of the heads of state (he met during the tour) showed interest in introducing new weapons systems or defense cooperation with the Republic of Korea, almost without exception." On his tour, the president met with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, and Türkiye to discuss defense cooperation.

The president also said, "We will further solidify pragmatic diplomacy centered on national interest for a better life for our people, based on solid, multi-layered global cooperation across the economy and industry, such as artificial intelligence, advanced science and technology, the defense industry, and K-culture," and ordered, "Please promptly prepare and implement comprehensive measures to materialize and realize the diplomatic achievements of the past six months since the new government took office."

Referring to the successful fourth launch of the Nuri rocket early that morning, the president said, "It is significant as the first public-private joint project carried out with the government and private companies as one team," and added, "The government will further accelerate the leap toward becoming a true space power." He continued, "We will definitely create a country where scientists and technologists are respected so that they can challenge infinite possibilities."

Reporter Kim Hyung-gyu khk@hankyung.com