Government spending - Thomson 158 Reuters https://thomson158reuters.servehalflife.com Latest News Updates Tue, 24 Sep 2024 22:08:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 Biden administration backs House Republicans’ three-month government funding bill https://thomson158reuters.servehalflife.com/biden-administration-backs-house-republicans-three-month-government-funding-bill/ https://thomson158reuters.servehalflife.com/biden-administration-backs-house-republicans-three-month-government-funding-bill/#respond Tue, 24 Sep 2024 22:08:59 +0000 https://thomson158reuters.servehalflife.com/biden-administration-backs-house-republicans-three-month-government-funding-bill/ US President Joe Biden (R) shakes hands with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson as they attend the National Prayer Breakfast Foundation’s annual event at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on February 1, 2024.  Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images The Biden administration on Tuesday announced its support for the latest short-term government […]

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US President Joe Biden (R) shakes hands with Speaker of the House Mike Johnson as they attend the National Prayer Breakfast Foundation’s annual event at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on February 1, 2024. 

Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images

The Biden administration on Tuesday announced its support for the latest short-term government funding proposal, greatly reducing the chances of a partial shutdown ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election.

In a statement from the Office of Management and Budget, the White House applauded the bill for giving Congress “more time to complete full-year funding bills later this year that deliver for America’s national defense, veterans, seniors, children, and working families, and address urgent needs for the American people, including for communities recovering from disaster.”

The statement was far from a ringing endorsement of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s, R-La., proposal. The statement criticized congressional Republicans for not including additional funding for disaster relief, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Small Business Administration.

“The Administration is deeply disappointed that congressional Republicans continue to block critical funding requested by the Administration to avoid severe disruptions to several critical Government services, including effectively ceasing operations of the Small Business Administration disaster loan program later this fall,” it said.

The White House also warned that it would oppose any funding cuts to the Internal Revenue Service in final appropriations legislation.

The bill — introduced by Johnson on Sunday after his original proposal failed to pass the GOP-controlled House earlier this month — would fund the government through Dec. 20, rather than March 2025. It does not include any part of the SAVE Act, a controversial voter ID bill.

President Joe Biden and many congressional Democrats staunchly opposed plans to include the SAVE Act in the government funding bill. But it was Johnson’s own caucus members who defeated his initial funding measure, when 14 House Republicans voted against it on Sept. 18.

The new proposal appears to defy the wishes of former President Donald Trump, who publicly called on congressional Republicans to shut down the government if the SAVE Act was left out of the funding bill.

The latest bill does include $231 million for the Secret Service, whose funding and resources have been in the spotlight in the wake of two assassination attempts against Trump.

Congress and the White House have until midnight on Sept. 30 to pass the bill and see it signed into law, avoid a partial government shutdown, which would have come just over a month from Election Day.

House Republican aides said Sunday that the funding proposal could reach the House floor for a vote as soon as Wednesday.

“The Administration calls for swift passage of this bill in both chambers of the Congress to avoid a costly, unnecessary government shutdown and to ensure there is adequate time to pass full-year FY 2025 appropriations bills later this year,” the White House statement said.

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South Korea focuses on fiscal discipline with smallest budget increase in two decades – Times of India https://thomson158reuters.servehalflife.com/south-korea-focuses-on-fiscal-discipline-with-smallest-budget-increase-in-two-decades-times-of-india/ https://thomson158reuters.servehalflife.com/south-korea-focuses-on-fiscal-discipline-with-smallest-budget-increase-in-two-decades-times-of-india/#respond Tue, 29 Aug 2023 02:11:52 +0000 https://thomson158reuters.servehalflife.com/south-korea-focuses-on-fiscal-discipline-with-smallest-budget-increase-in-two-decades-times-of-india/ SEOUL: South Korea‘s government plans to raise budget spending to nearly $497 billion for 2024, but the proposed increase is the smallest in two decades as authorities prioritise fiscal discipline amid weakening tax revenue due to slower economic growth. In its annual spending plan released on Tuesday, the finance ministry set total government expenditure for […]

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SEOUL: South Korea‘s government plans to raise budget spending to nearly $497 billion for 2024, but the proposed increase is the smallest in two decades as authorities prioritise fiscal discipline amid weakening tax revenue due to slower economic growth.
In its annual spending plan released on Tuesday, the finance ministry set total government expenditure for 2024 at 656.9 trillion won ($496.70 billion), up 2.8% from 2023.
That is smaller than this year’s 5.2% increase and the smallest-ever boost since fiscal statistics were last revised at the beginning of 2005, according to the ministry, excluding supplementary budgets.
The conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration has prioritised improving the government’s fiscal position since its term began in May 2022, refraining from splurging taxpayer money to boost growth and emphasising the role of the private sector.
It partly reflects weak tax revenue, estimated to drop by a record 8.3% in 2024 and bring down next year’s total government income by 2.2% to 612.1 trillion won, amid slow economic growth and as the government seeks further tax cuts, especially for companies.
The government is forecasting economic growth to weaken to a three-year low of 1.4% this year, after expanding 2.6% in 2022 and 4.3% in 2021. It expects the economy to grow 2.4% in 2024.
South Korea’s fiscal deficit will widen to 3.9% of GDP next year, from an estimated 2.6% this year, the ministry said, adding that it will bring back the ratio below 3% from 2025. The debt-to-GDP ratio will rise to 51.0% from 50.4%.
“It was a difficult decision the government made to hold onto sound financing,” Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said.
About 23 trillion won worth of projects deemed inefficient will be scrapped or scaled down, with more spending on social welfare, childbirth support, investment in key industries, public safety and disaster prevention, among others.
Big spending increases include social welfare, up by 7.5% to 242.9 trillion won, defence up 4.5% to 59.6 trillion won and corporate support by 4.9% to 27.3 trillion won.
The government will issue 158.8 trillion won of treasury bonds in 2024, down from a total of 167.8 trillion won planned for this year. The net increase in treasury bonds is projected at 50.3 trillion won.
It will issue a maximum $1.3 billion worth of foreign exchange stabilisation bonds, compared with $2.7 billion set for this year, and 18 trillion won worth of the bonds in local currency, its first issuance of the kind since 2003, to lower the borrowing cost.
The budget plan will be submitted to the national assembly on Friday, Sept. 1.

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