South Korea Budget Minister Signals Possible Increase to Extra Budget on Rising Naphtha Costs

Park Hong-keun, minister of the Office for Government Policy Coordination and Budget, said May 8 that the government will consider increasing its supplementary budget to reflect rising naphtha import prices.

There is still time during the National Assembly's review of the supplementary budget bill, so the government will take the issue into account and examine the need, Park said at a plenary meeting of the Assembly's Budget and Accounts Committee.

He was responding to a question from Kim Sang-wook of the Democratic Party, who said the country needs more naphtha than it did when the extra budget was drafted and that higher import prices should be partly reflected in the supplementary budget.

Park said the government's supplementary budget proposal already includes 470 billion won ($341 million) for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Additional earmarked contingency reserves have also been set aside in case that is not enough.

Combined, the two allocations amount to about 1 trillion won ($725 million), he added.

Park said the government also needs to factor in requests for larger volumes and rising international naphtha prices. If the current budget cannot absorb those costs, it will fully review the need for additional funding.

Park Su-rim, Hankyung.com reporter paksr365@hankyung.com