Parliamentary committees have increased the government’s proposed 30-point-five trillion won supplementary budget by nearly nine-point-five trillion won during preliminary reviews, bringing the total to just under 40 trillion won, or roughly 29 billion U.S. dollars.

The Education Committee led the increases, adding nearly three trillion won for local education and scholarship programs, while other committees boosted funding for public health, wildfire relief and job creation.

Rival factions clashed at a National Policy Committee meeting over a proposed “bad bank” debt relief plan, with the ruling Democratic Party(DP) calling it urgent and the main opposition People Power Party(PPP) criticizing it as morally hazardous and fiscally reckless.

The Budget and Accounts Committee will now begin final adjustments, where some increases may be trimmed.

The DP aims to pass the revised budget by July 3, while the PPP has yet to agree on a final vote schedule.