Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki says the government has already secured a “considerable” amount of money for restoration projects following damage caused by heavy rains. 

Hong made the remark in a meeting with reporters on Monday when he was asked whether the government intends to draft a fourth supplementary budget of the year. 

The minister said that the government has two-point-six trillion won worth of reserve funds, including one-point-nine trillion won in reserve for disasters, and that although not all the money can be used for restoration efforts, a significant amount of financial resources are in store. 

He added that in some cases, next year’s budget can be also tapped in advance for such purposes. 

While the minister did not directly address the issue of a fourth extra budget, his remarks were seen as an indirect refusal. 

Political parties, including the main opposition United Future Party, are raising the idea of an additional extra budget to deal with rain-related losses, with the ruling Democratic Party planning to discuss the issue at an emergency meeting with the government.

South Korea has already drawn up an extra budget three times this year as the country struggles to overcome the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The last time the government drafted four extra budgets a year was 1961.