Gyeonggi Province Declares 'Fiscal Emergency,' Cuts 546.5 Billion Won in Budget to Support People's Livelihoods

Gyeonggi Province, which officially declared its financial situation as an 'emergency,' is pursuing a strong budget cut of 546.5 billion won to protect essential livelihood projects including living expenses and care for vulnerable groups, response to low birth rate, public safety, and welfare and medical services.

Jeong Doo-seok, head of the Gyeonggi Province Planning and Coordination Office, held a press conference at the Gyeonggi Province Government building on the 19th and announced that the province has drawn up a 2026 second supplementary budget proposal totaling 42.242 trillion won and will submit it to the Gyeonggi Province Council.

"Although the province's financial conditions are difficult, we have implemented a comprehensive structural adjustment of expenditures to protect essential livelihood projects directly related to residents' lives," Director Jeong said, adding "We aim to respond to the fiscal emergency by prioritizing the allocation of limited resources to necessary projects."

The supplementary budget was drawn up to respond to worsening financial conditions, including an anticipated tax revenue shortfall of 300 billion won in local taxes such as acquisition tax, the main tax source for the province, due to sluggish real estate transactions, accumulated debt burden, and the depletion of available funds, while ensuring the smooth implementation of essential livelihood projects.

The province implemented a strong structural adjustment of expenditures by reorganizing ceremonial, one-time, and overlapping projects and comprehensively reviewing project scale and implementation schedules, cutting a total of 546.5 billion won from the existing budget.

Major projects subject to budget reduction include △unallocated delegation payment to the Electoral Commission of 23.648 billion won △Bugok National Highway construction compensation of 19 billion won △Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation contribution of 16.35 billion won.

Additionally, taking a responsible stance toward the fiscal emergency, the province reduced administrative operating expenses such as office management fees by 2.22 billion won and cut official business promotion expenses for grade 3 and above senior public officials by 400 million won. Unnecessary overseas business trips and training are also being minimized or suspended. The Gyeonggi Province Council also participated in the structural adjustment by independently cutting 1.4 billion won in overseas travel expenses for provincial council members and council staff and 900 million won in personnel costs.

With the secured resources, the province first allocated 246.4 billion won to livelihood projects that could not be reflected in the 2026 main budget.

Major projects include △long-term care facilities and home care benefits for the elderly of 123.4 billion won △support for school meal expenses at provincial education offices for kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high schools of 58.4 billion won △support for Gyeonggi Province farmer and fisherman opportunity income of 21.5 billion won △Gyeonggi Province youth basic income of 16.3 billion won △meal support for undernourished children of 7.5 billion won △school meal support for environment-friendly and quality agricultural and livestock products of 3.5 billion won △operation support for transportation assistance centers of 3.7 billion won.

A total of 86.3 billion won was allocated to respond to the low birth rate crisis and essential welfare and medical services. By reflecting △assisted reproduction procedure support for couples with fertility issues of 22.3 billion won △maternal and newborn health care support of 11.5 billion won △transportation fee support for children and youth of 6 billion won △activity support benefits for persons with disabilities of 3 billion won, the province aims to ease the burden of childbirth and child-rearing and minimize welfare gaps. Additionally, △medical care benefits of 38.9 billion won and △national preventive vaccination of 600 million won were allocated to essential medical services.

A total of 29.8 billion won was allocated for railroad and road SOC projects with high urgency for implementation. In this supplementary budget, projects scheduled for completion within the year or requiring execution this year due to land compensation reconsideration were selected. Major projects include △Dobongsan-Okjeong metropolitan railway of 4.2 billion won △Anseong Gongdo-Yangseong road expansion and paving project of 4.1 billion won △Hwaseong Ujeong-Hyangnam road expansion and paving project of 3 billion won.

Gyeonggi Province's second supplementary budget proposal will be reviewed at the 393rd Temporary Session of the Gyeonggi Province Council held from September 1 to 18. The province plans to cooperate closely with the provincial council during the review process and, once the budget is confirmed, establish implementation plans for each department to proceed with projects promptly.

Governor Choo Mi-ae of Gyeonggi Province previously officially declared the province's financial situation as an 'emergency' on the 5th.