Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho, center, presides over an emergency meeting with economy-related ministers at the Government Complex Sejong, Wednesday. Yonhap

By Yi Whan-woo

The government said Wednesday that it will prioritize creating more jobs and stabilizing prices in the first half of this year by frontloading at least 60 percent of its 2023 budget, which is worth 638.7 trillion won ($500 billion).

The decision came as the nation's economy is forecast to remain in the doldrums for the time being amid a global economic slowdown caused by high inflation and supply chain disruptions.

Specifically, it will spend 70 percent of the 14.9 trillion won allotted for job creation in the January-June period to revitalize the sluggish jobs market. During the cited period, it will seek to create 90 percent of the 1.04 million jobs that it plans to add this year through direct hiring in the public sector.

"We'll go for swift budget execution from the beginning of the year, as our economy is anticipated to be down in the first half of the year and only up in the second half," Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho said during an emergency meeting with economy-related ministers at the Government Complex Sejong. "Early spending in employment is needed as the job market is expected to continue to be stagnant down the road."

He was referring to the job growth rate, which slowed down for the sixth consecutive month after peaking at 935,000 in May.

What is of more concern is that job growth was primarily led by those aged 60 and older. In November, the government's data shows that the number of newly added jobs in the age group reached 479,000, accounting for 76.5 percent of the total job growth of 626,000.

Of the 638.7 trillion won, 11.2 trillion won will be spent on 36 projects aimed at stabilizing people's livelihoods. These projects will involve 12 ministries in total.

Another 5.4 trillion won will be spent on 45 separate projects involving eight ministries to fight inflation, which remains high, in the 5 percent range.

Meanwhile, the meeting on Monday also discussed measures to stabilize the prices of vegetables, fruits, meat and other food products in high demand temporarily in the lead-up to the Lunar New Year holiday from Jan. 21 to 24.

The government will supply a record 208,000 tons of 16 major Lunar New Year food items in order to keep prices at a lower level than the previous year.

Electricity fees will be lowered significantly for the socially vulnerable to minimize the burden financially following a sharp hike in electricity rates in the first half of the year.

The electricity rates for consumer and industrial use have risen by 13.1 won per kilowatt hour (kWh), marking the biggest quarterly increase in nearly four decades, amid the global energy crunch.

In addition, expressways will be toll-free during the Lunar New Year holiday.