Misuse of Subsidies - 보조금 오용

  Out of the 11.8 trillion won ($10.4 billion) in the supplementary budget bill submitted by the government last week to parliament, 5.6 trillion won has been earmarked to make up for this year's tax revenue shortfall. In recent years, tax revenues have consistently fallen short of government-set targets. Under these tightened fiscal conditions, the importance of budgetary efficiency cannot be overemphasized. A recent audit by a group of experts, including professorsand researchers, into goverment-subsidized programs revealed the widespread practice of inefficient and irresponsible spending.

 

  The state budget for 2015 has set aside 58.4 trillion won, or 15 percent of total expenditure, in subsidies to help fund 2,502 projects implemented by local adminstrations and private organizations. This year's government subsidies has risen 11.2percent fron last year,  nearly double the rate of incease in the overall budget. Lawmakers from the main political parties, who have clashed over almost all sensitive issues, were more than willing to agree to allot more subsidies needed to fund pork-barrel projects in their constituencies.

 

  In its report submitted to the Finance Ministry on Friday, the group of experts said about 10 percent of the 1,422 projects under audit should be scrapped. It also advised that some 20 percent should be gradually downsized and another 14 percent should improve their way of operating. The report said that, if such recommendations were put into action, the central government could save about 1.8 trillion won in budget expenditure by 2017. It is deplorable that nearly half of the projects run on taxpayers' money were so inefficient and impractical that they should be discontinued or could not continue in the currrent way. 

 

1. earmark : (주로 수동태로 for) 특정 목적으로 배정되다.

2. can not  be overemphasized : 아무리 강조해도 지나치지 않다.

3. allot : (시간, 돈, 업무 등을) 할당하다, 배당하다. cf. I completed the test within the time allotted.

4. pork-barrel project : 선거에서 표를 얻기 위해 벌이는 지역 개발 사업, 선심성 사업

5. deplorable : 개탄스러운