[사설] Don’t ask, Disaster subsidies are sprayed, there is no exit for financial collapse

On the 2nd, the government held a state council meeting presided over by President Moon Jae-in at the Blue House on the 2nd and decided on a 15 trillion won extra budget. It is a resource for support for small businesses and the vulnerable to employment, as well as emergency employment and quarantine measures, which are largely affected by Corona 19. The supplementary bill is presented to the National Assembly on the 4th. Earlier, the party administration prepared a plan to pay 19.500 trillion won for the 4th disaster support fund, adding to the existing budget already decided by the National Assembly of 4.5 trillion won. The ruling party plans to hurry to free the money before the Seoul-Busan mayoral elections in April by processing the supplementary bill at an extraordinary National Assembly in the middle of this month.

The 4th disaster support fund is the largest ever. The first support provided to all citizens in May last year (1.4 trillion won), the second support provided to the victims such as small business owners in October (7.8 trillion won), and the third payment since January this year (KRW 9.3 trillion) It is far more than the subsidy.

This is because the ruling party has significantly increased the amount of payment and targets by advocating’wide and thick’ support. From 1 million won in general businesses to self-employed and small business owners, up to 5 million won in business prohibited businesses. With the addition of support for electricity bills, the maximum subsidy will increase to 6.8 million won. The targets for the application include special hires, freelance workers, street vendors, corporate taxi drivers, and low-income college students, which were excluded in the third application, increasing by about 2 million. The total number of beneficiaries of subsidies reached 6.9 million.

Of the additional 15 trillion won, 9 trillion won will be raised by issuing government bonds. It is a financial debt. The government debt, which was 956 trillion won in this year’s main budget, will increase to 9.59 trillion won with this addition. The ratio of national debt to gross domestic product (GDP) also rises from 47.3% of this budget to 48.2%. There is a high possibility that the supplementary administration will not end this time. It is expected to simply pass 1,000 trillion won in national debt. The 40% debt ratio, which was kept until 2019, collapsed to 44.2% last year. It is obvious that it will be above the 50% line this year.

In addition, President Moon mentioned the payment of the’National Consolation Fund’ as if he was patronizing. The ruling party is also pushing ahead with the’Operating Loss Compensation Act’ for self-employed people who suffer from corona damage. I can’t even estimate how much more money will be scattered in the future. Even the meaning of the existence of the equipment department, which should protect the country’s barns, is disappearing.

The banks of soundness have already collapsed and the finances are ruined. Developed countries that have released huge amounts of money in the corona crisis are also predicting austerity to reduce side effects. Representatively, German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared, “We cannot continue financial support due to a deficit budget,” and declared “We will pay off our debts from 2023”.

Right now, we only talk about releasing money, but there is no way to pay off the debt. The government, which has only a term of only one year, will increase debt indefinitely, putting an enormous burden on the next government and the people, and will not take responsibility for anyone.