(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) South Korea's National Assembly (Parliament) passed the government's 2013 budget bill early Tuesday morning after rival parties belatedly reached a compromise on how to fund President-elect Park Geun-hye's campaign pledges to increase welfare spending and help needy people.
The one-house legislature approved the 342 trillion won (US$321.73 billion) budget, a net decline of about 500 billion won from 342.5 trillion won in the initial government proposal.
The budget is a marginal reduction from the 342.5 trillion won plan initially submitted by the government in September, but still represents a 5.1 percent increase on the 2012 spending plan.
The revised budget allocates 28.5 percent of total spending to health, welfare and labor, up marginally from the government's initial proposal and reflecting campaign promises made by Park.
The official fiscal deficit is projected to narrow to 0.3 percent of gross domestic product in 2013 from a projected 1.1 percent deficit in 2012 as initially planned.
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