South Korea passes $49.5bn extra budget ahead of local elections

Supplementary budget will fund support for small businesses and self-employed people impacted by pandemic restrictions.

South Korea’s National Assembly approved a 62 trillion won ($49.5bn) supplementary budget on Sunday aimed at supporting businesses hit by pandemic-related restrictions.

The amount approved was 2.6 trillion won ($2bn) more than the 59.4 trillion won announced last month and will mostly be used for cash handouts for small businesses and self-employed people to make up for…