South Korea’s rival parties said Saturday they have agreed to pass the government’s budget bill before its legal deadline Dec. 2 for the first time in 12 years.
“The (ruling) Saenuri Party will certainly meet the Dec. 2 deadline set by the Constitution,” party spokeswoman Kwon Eun-hee told a press briefing.
Officials of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy confirmed the agreement reached with the ruling party earlier in the day.
The agreement came one day after the rival parties reached a deal on free child care service, one of the most thorny issues that had prompted the main opposition party to boycott all parliamentary proceedings since Wednesday.
The rival parties still remain widely apart over a number of issues, but will continue to narrow their gaps over the weekend, both sides said.
If the parties carry through with the agreement, it will mark the first time in 12 years they have passed the budget bill before the legal deadline.
The government is requesting that its buddget for next year be increased by 5.7 percent to 376 trillion won for next year from 354 trillion won (US$319.35 billion) this year. (Yonhap)
