SPA Puts Emphasis on Settlement of Food Problem as Main Economic Task

SPA Puts Emphasis on Settlement of Food Problem as Main Economic Task

3rd Session of 11th SPA Approves State Budget Bill for 2005

Photo shows the platform of the 3rd Session of the 11th Supreme People's Assembly held on April 11 in Pyongyang.　

Premier on Last Year’s Work of DPRK Cabinet and Its Tasks for This Year

Report on State Budget Delivered at DPRK SPA Session

The DPRK convened the 3rd session of the 11th Supreme People’s Assembly at the Mansudae Assembly Hall in Pyongyang on April 11.

In the session, decisions of the SPA, “On approving the report on the work of the DPRK Cabinet and the results of the implementation of the 2004 state budget” and an ordinance of the DPRK SPA “On the state budget of the DPRK for 2005” were unanimously adopted by the deputies.

Kim Jong Il, general secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea and chairman of the DPRK National Defense Commission, appeared on the platform.

Appearing together with him were Kim Yong Nam, Jo Myong Rok, Pak Pong Ju, senior officials of the Party, the state and the army, chairpersons of friendly parties, and members of the Presidium of the SPA.

The session discussed the following three items on the agenda, “On the review of the work of the DPRK Cabinet in 2004 and its tasks for 2005,” “On the results of the implementation of the DPRK state budget for 2004 and the state budget for 2005” and organizational issues.

Premier on the Work of DPRK Cabinet in 2004 and Its Tasks for 2005

Premier of the DPRK Cabinet Pak Pong Ju said in his report on the first agenda item that last year the Cabinet administered economic affairs with main stress on radically boosting the electricity, coal and metal industries and the railway transport and rejuvenating production in all sectors of the national economy including light industry and agriculture. The Cabinet also took positive measures to upgrade the socialist economic management method while stepping up the reconstruction and modernization of the national economy on the basis of modern science and technology.

According to his report, the country’s electricity production went up 50 percent as against 2002. Many successes were made last year in the chemical and electronics industries and railways and marine transport. Successes were also achieved in agriculture, fisheries, light industry and land management.

Pak said that the main tasks of the economic fields this year are to “decisively settle the food problem and dynamically push ahead with the work of reconstructing and modernizing the national economy and put the overall industrial production on a higher level on the basis of the existing solid foundations of production.” “Agriculture is the main front in the socialist economic construction this year,” he said.

He also said in the report that it is necessary to direct and sustain big efforts to leading sectors of the national economy to settle the problems of fuel, power and iron, steel and transport.

Pak attached importance to external economic activities, saying that it is imperative to conduct external economic activities and bring the quality of secondary and tertiary products to the world’s level in a bid to explore foreign markets.

The DPRK will pursue effective economic cooperation with other countries so as to introduce advanced science and technology from abroad, the report added.

He also stressed in the report that it is necessary to study and perfect the new systems of socialist economic management and continue to push ahead with the drive to boost the economy of the country with main emphasis on the development of state enterprises.

“A new turn should be effected in the cultural construction including education, culture, public health and sports this year,” Pak Pong Ju said.

Report on State Budget Delivered

Minister of Finance Mun Il Bong delivered a report on the second item on the agenda.

Reviewing the implementation of the state budget for last year, the minister said that the state preferentially allocated funds for the increase of the military strength while providing funds for the prosperity and development of the country and the promotion of the people’s well-being, including spending for the national economy and popular policies.

Mun said that the DPRK spent 15.6 percent of its total budgetary expenditure on military affairs last year “in order to cope with the increased frantic moves of the U.S. to isolate and stifle the DPRK.” His report noted that the budget boosted the country’s independent and modern defense industry, upgrading the combat capability power of the People’s Army in every way and firmly defending the dignity and sovereignty of the country.

According to his report, 41.3 percent of the total state budgetary expenditure was allocated last year to the national economy and 40.8 percent of it to social and cultural fields to “develop the nation’s economy and successfully carrying out the socialist cultural construction.” The 2004 state budgetary expenditure was executed at 99.3 percent.

As for the 2005 state budget, the military expenditure will rise to 15.9 percent “with a view to bolstering the People’s Army, developing the defense industry and implementing the WPK’s policy of placing all the people under arms and turning the whole country into a fortress.” “The state budget for this year has been drawn up in such a way as to keep the balance between revenue and expenditure to sufficiently finance ‘the general march for the Songun revolution’ called for by the Workers’ Party of Korea,” the report noted.

The finance minister estimated that the state budgetary revenue for 2005 would increase 15.1 percent over the previous year.

The new state budget envisages a 13.5 percent rise in revenue from the profits of the state enterprises, and an 8.4 percent increase in revenue from profits of the cooperatives and a 3 percent growth in revenue from social insurance over the previous year.

A considerable increase is expected in the local budgetary revenue.

The report also said that the revenue from the profits of the state enterprises will be markedly boosted to ensure the 2005 state budgetary revenue. In the meantime, factories in large-scale key industries as well as in light industry will radically increase their production and all local areas and other units conduct diverse production and services in keeping with their specific conditions to raise their revenues.

The total expenditure will be raised 11.4 percent over the previous year.

The state will allocate 15.9 percent of the total budgetary expenditure as military spending with a view to bolstering the People’s Army, developing the defense industry and implementing to the letter the Party’s policy of placing all the people under arms and turning the whole country into a fortress.

A large financial disbursement will be made for different fields of the national economy to sharply increase the production of industrial sectors.

Thus, 29.1 percent more funds than in the previous year will be invested in agriculture to solve the people’s food problem.

More funds will be earmarked this year for capital construction, land management and city management.

A 14.7 percent bigger financial allocation than last year will be made for science and technology to accelerate the process of putting all fields of economy on a modern and IT basis, while 10.3 percent more funds than last year will be spent to implement the popular policies such as the compulsory free educational system and the free medical care system.

As for the organizational issues, Deputy Choe Yong Rim was elected to fill a vacancy of secretary general of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People’s Assembly, and Deputy Kang Chang Uk, chairman of the Central Committee of the Union of Agricultural Workers of Korea, was elected to, to fill a vacancy of a member of the SPA Presidium, with the unanimous approval of the deputies.

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