Local governments will likely be allowed to use their reserve funds for disaster relief to help small businesses and the most vulnerable facing severe difficulties from the novel coronavirus outbreak.
 
According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on Sunday, the government will draw up a revision to relevant ordinances of the disaster and safety management law to that effect and submit it to a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
 
The revision will include a special clause that will enable local municipalities to spend some three-point-eight trillion-won reserve funds for the vulnerable and small businesses.
 
Local governments set aside a certain portion of their tax revenues for the disaster relief funds every year.
 
The special clause, which will likely take effect as early as this week, however, will only be applied to cases related to the COVID-19 outbreak.