South Korea’s parliament passes 2023 budget billReuters, SEOULSouth Korea’s parliament on Saturday approved South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s administration’s first full-year budget bill for next year, which cut total spending and the fiscal deficit from this year. The approved budget, valued at 638.7 trillion won (US$498.89 billion) or 6 percent less than this year’s, is set to cut the fiscal deficit to 0.6 percent of GDP from 3.3 percent this year. South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during an interview with Reuters in Seoul on Nov. 28. Yoon’s government aims to contain the debt growth by keeping the fiscal deficit at 0.5 percent to 0.6 percent in each of the next several years, compared with 3.3 percent estimated for this year. The parliament also delayed the introduction of a financial investment income tax by two years.
