South Korea approves extra budget amid largest coronavirus wave

Steady market: A customer pushes a cart at a superstore in Incheon. Private spending has remained resilient amid multiple waves of the virus. — Bloomberg

SEOUL: South Korea’s parliament passed a larger-than-planned first extra budget of the year as the government tries to shore up parts of the economy worst hit by the nation’s biggest coronavirus outbreak of the pandemic.

The 16.9 trillion won (RM59bil) budget, approved by parliament late Monday, is aimed at compensating losses to businesses that have been labouring under some of the strictest conditions since Covid-19 erupted, as virus cases rose from thousands a day to over a 100,000.