여야, 12조2천억원 추경안 합의…오늘 밤 본회의 상정<br /><br />At Seoul's National Assembly,<br />rival parties are set to pass the government's second supplementary budget of the year in the coming hours designed to cushion the crushing economic blow caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.<br />Our Kim Mok-yeon reports from National Assembly.<br />Rival parties have agreed to pass a 10 billion U.S. dollar extra budget bill at a plenary session this evening to distribute emergency relief funds to the public in the aftermath of COVID-19.<br />The figure is up 3.8 million dollars from the original budget proposal, as lawmakers and the government decided to expand the scope of who would be eligible...from the lower 70-percent income bracket to all citizens.<br />The extra 3.8 million dollars will be financed by issuing national bonds worth 2.8 million and the rest coming from an adjusted annual expenditure budget.<br />The bill was originally set to be passed at a plenary session at 9 PM on Wednesday but due to delays in the screening process, the voting will take place at around midnight.<br />Once passed, the government plans to distribute the emergency relief money to some 21-point-7 million households nationwide by mid-May.<br />The amount will vary depending on the size of the household. Four-person households will receive around 800 dollars while two-member households will get around 500 dollars.<br />A special bill that will allow the government to receive donations from high-income earners who are willing to donate their share is also set to be passed.<br />The bill will allow donators to receive tax credits of 15 percent of their expenses during their year-end tax adjustments.<br />As well as the extra budget bills, more than a hundred non-contentious bills will be put forward for a full floor vote this evening, including one aimed at strengthening punishments for digital sex crimes.<br />Kim Mok-yeon, Arirang News.<br />
