President Moon Jae-in called for ways to use excess tax revenue to ease the financial burdens on pandemic-hit small business owners.

Moon made the call on Thursday during a meeting with his aides, according to presidential spokesperson Park Kyung-mee.

The finance ministry announced the latest tax revenue estimate for 2021 on Thursday, which had an additional excess of eight trillion won on top of a previous estimate of 19 trillion won reported in November 2021. Compared to the estimate from fall 2020, the latest figure is almost 60 trillion won higher. 

Expressing disappointment over the error, Moon assessed that the excess is the result of economic revitalization, including exports and employment.

The president's latest order draws attention toward the government and the ruling Democratic Party's(DP) push for an extra budget for pandemic-related expenses.