Despite announcing a new five-year economic development plan at a recent ruling party congress, North Korea's budget on economic development this year remained at the same level as last year.

According to the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency(KCNA) on Monday, the budget for economic construction projects announced at a parliamentary session the previous day rose point-six percent from 2020.

That is a notable drop from four-point-nine to six-point-two percent on-year increases from the past three years.

The budget on economic construction is also expected to take up less than 47-point-eight percent of the total from last year.

Pyongyang is believed to have adjusted the budget as it faces a triple whammy of the COVID-19 pandemic, damage from last summer's typhoons and floods and economic difficulties from international sanctions.

The parliamentary session also approved a two-point-five-percent hike in spending on public health, in apparent consideration of the country's nationwide efforts against the coronavirus.