S. Korean lawmakers set to pass 2nd COVID-19 extra budget bill Wednesday

여야, 12조2천억원 추경안 합의…오늘 밤 본회의 상정At Seoul's National Assembly,rival parties are set to pass the government's second supplementary budget of the year in the coming hours designed to cushion the crushing economic blow caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.Our Kim Mok-yeon reports from National Assembly.Rival parties have agreed to pass a 10 billion U.S. dollar extra budget bill at a plenary session this evening to distribute emergency relief funds to the public in the aftermath of COVID-19.The figure is up 3.8 million dollars from the original budget proposal, as lawmakers and the government decided to expand the scope of who would be eligible...from the lower 70-percent income bracket to all citizens.The extra 3.8 million dollars will be financed by issuing national bonds worth 2.8 million and the rest coming from an adjusted annual expenditure budget.The bill was originally set to be passed at a plenary session at 9 PM on Wednesday but due to delays in the screening process, the voting will take place at around midnight.Once passed, the government plans to distribute the emergency relief money to some 21-point-7 million households nationwide by mid-May.The amount will vary depending on the size of the household. Four-person households will receive around 800 dollars while two-member households will get around 500 dollars.A special bill that will allow the government to receive donations from high-income earners who are willing to donate their share is also set to be passed.The bill will allow donators to receive tax credits of 15 percent of their expenses during their year-end tax adjustments.As well as the extra budget bills, more than a hundred non-contentious bills will be put forward for a full floor vote this evening, including one aimed at strengthening punishments for digital sex crimes.Kim Mok-yeon, Arirang News.