Next year’s state budget is expected to be passed after the presidential elections set for the middle of December mainly due to the failure of lawmakers to reach an agreement on spending cuts, parliamentary sources said Friday.

The inability to iron out differences means the budget will not be passed by the deadline set by the Constitution, which is Sunday.

In September, the government asked the National Assembly to approve its 342.5 trillion won ($316.2 billion) budget spending plan for 2013, up 5.3 percent or 17.1 trillion won from this year.

Sources said legislators from the ruling and opposition parties have concluded reviews on overall cuts, but left many on hold that require more consultation.

These include the 200 billion won needed to push forward the Jeju naval base and funds for the engine and transmission power-pack for the country’s K2 next generation main battle tank. Both are opposed by the main opposition Democratic United Party. (Yonhap News)