S.Korea says assigning 45.1% of budget to Q1

SEOUL (REUTERS) - South Korea has allocated 45.1 per cent of its annual budget spending for the current quarter to support the struggling economy, slightly more than last year and the most in more than 10 years.

The allocation for the January-March period is up slightly from 44.1 per cent last year and the most since at least 2002.

Total funds allocated for the first quarter this year is up by 8 per cent to 134.6 trillion won (US$154.80 billion) from 124.7 trillion won a year earlier.

"We are advancing budget spending in order to aggressively counter the continuing economic slowdown stemming from the prolonged global uncertainties," the ministry said in a statement.