[News Today] 2025 BUDGET SET AT KRW 677 TN

[LEAD]
The government has allocated a budget of 677.4 trillion won for next year, a 3.2% increase from this year. By capping the growth rate at around 3% for the second straight year, it continues its tight fiscal policy. Despite this restraint, the focus remains on enhancing welfare for the vulnerable and improving people's livelihoods, according to officials.

[REPORT]
The government stressed that next year's budget is focused on improving people's livelihoods.

Choi Sang-mok / Deputy Prime Minister for Economy
The 2025 budget prioritizes people's livelihoods as well as structural reforms and improvements for future growth.

5.9 trillion won, or 4.5 billion dollars, will be injected to help small businesses.

Ko Jong-sun / Mangwon Market Vendor
Sales haven't recovered. The delivery trend that began during the pandemic continues.

As small businesses are struggling to make ends meet because of soaring fees charged by food delivery apps, the government has decided to provide an annual delivery fee subsidy of 300,000 won, or 226 dollars.

A debt settlement fund for helping small merchants will be expanded to over 40 trillion won, or some 30 billion dollars, and more unmanned credit card terminals will be provided.

The median income, which serves as a threshold for welfare benefits, has been raised by 6.42%.

Basic living subsidies for four-person households will increase nearly 120,000 won, or around 84 dollars, a month to over 1.95 million won, or about 1,500 dollars, a month.

The budget also includes expanded parental leaves.

The maximum parental leave allowance has been raised to 2.5 million won, or some 1,900 dollars. Separate subsidies will be paid to parents' colleagues whose workload will increase.

About 19.7 trillion won, or 14.8 billion dollars, has been allocated to tackle the nation's plummeting birth rate.

The R&D budget, which was slashed this year, will expand by 11.8% to 29.7 trillion won, or some 22.3 billion dollars.

The government says under the new budget classification system, the new R&D budget is actually larger than in 2023, before a controversy over a budget cut.

However, when key expenditures are excluded, the government's role through the budget appears significantly reduced.

The scope of non-essential discretionary expenditures, which exclude mandatory expenditures, has risen by only 0.8%.

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