The South Korean government poured 185.5 trillion won (US$148.8 billion) of its annual budget during the first seven months of this year to help stabilize the economy, the finance ministry said on Wednesday.

According to a statement by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, South Korea spent 179.6 trillion won (US$144.1 billion) out of the annual budget worth 257.7 trillion won (US$206.7 billion), together with 5.9 trillion won (US$4.7 billion) from its extra budget.

The total expenditure during the cited period takes up 68 percent of preplanned amount, up from an earlier target of spending 177.7 trillion won (US$142.5 billion), the ministry said.

The government has been trying to frontload its 2009 budget expenditure in a bid to fight the global economic downturn and stabilize its economy, the ministry said.

The budget will be continued to be spent to revive the economic activities during the second half, the ministry added.

(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2009)