President Lee Jae-myung on Monday rebutted claims that the "high oil price relief payments," to be distributed to 70% of the population, would increase the fiscal burden on local governments, calling such assertions inconsistent with the facts.
Lee posted on X (formerly Twitter) alongside a media article citing a National Assembly Budget Office report. The report stated that of the 6.14 trillion won ($4.5 billion) earmarked for the relief payment program in the supplementary budget bill, the local government share would be 20–30%, or 1.32 trillion won, potentially straining local finances.
"In this supplementary budget, the money going to local governments to bolster their fiscal capacity — local allocation tax — amounts to 9.7 trillion won, while the local government share of the relief payment program costs 1.3 trillion won. So local governments' fiscal capacity increases by 8.4 trillion won," Lee explained. He added, "This is elementary arithmetic."
"One could criticize this as infringing on local governments' autonomous decision-making over their expanded fiscal capacity, but claiming it increases their fiscal burden makes no sense, because their overall finances actually grow," he said.
"This program is not mandatory, so local governments that do not want to bear the 20–30% share do not have to participate," Lee stressed. "However, since the central government covers 70–80% of relief payments to local residents, the benefit is substantial and there is no reason to refuse." He added, "They may wish the central government would shoulder a bit more, though."