South Korea announces $29 billion third stimulus budget to fight virus misery

South Korea on Wednesday unveiled a 35.3 trillion won (28.8 billion U.S. dollars) supplementary budget, increasing the total stimulus to 270 trillion won in an economy facing its worst growth since the 1998 Asian financial crisis.

Announcing South Korea's largest ever supplementary budget, and the third this year, the government has put in place support measures equivalent to about 14 percent of the GDP to counter the economic fallout from the coronavirus. 

The latest budget will see the government spending more on protecting jobs, COVID-19 vaccine development and discount coupons to boost consumption. More loans will also be made to small- to medium-sized businesses hit by slumping sales. 

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