The ruling Democratic Party(DP) will aim to expand the government’s extra budget plan on tackling the COVID-19 outbreak by more than six trillion won. 

DP Floor Leader Lee In-young said during a policy coordination meeting on Thursday that the party hopes the supplementary budget plan will be expanded by between six-point-three and six-point-seven trillion won.  

The DP has continuously voiced that the government’s proposal worth eleven-point-seven trillion won is not enough to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus and minimize financial losses resulting from the outbreak.  

Given the urgent need for the funds, the ruling camp believes it would be most effective to expand the budget plan in the process of deliberations in parliament, rather than having the government submit a new one.

The DP is aiming to increase the supplementary budget between four to five trillion won at minimum if efforts to raise it by more than six trillion won fail during consultations with the opposition camp.