South Korea said Thursday it plans to spend 74 trillion won ($53.4 billion) on supporting low-income families, senior citizens and other vulnerable people next year in a bid to ease the burden of rising living costs.

The government plans to increase its budget spending by 8.7 trillion won in 2023 on-year to prevent vulnerable people from being left in a blind spot, according to the finance ministry.

The money will be spent to support low-income households, people with disabilities, young people struggling to find jobs and homes, and senior citizens, children and adolescents.

When overlapping support is taken into account, around 21 million people are expected to receive benefits, it added.

The move comes as vulnerable people are facing the burden of rising living costs and other expenses amid high inflation.

The government plans to earmark 21.2 trillion won of the budget to support 3.68 million low-income families next year, up from 18 trillion won for this year.

It will spend 5.8 trillion won to assist the disabled, including the provision of 24-hour care to people with developmental disabilities.

The government aims to spend 24.1 trillion won on helping around 6.02 million young people land secure jobs and create money to find homes. It will also provide 23.3 trillion won in support for nearly 9 million children, adolescents and older adults.

Last week, the finance ministry proposed a budget of 639 trillion won for next year, the first cut in the government spending in 13 years, as it seeks to implement a belt-tightening policy to enhance fiscal soundness.

Of the proposed budget, it set aside 226.6 trillion won for health, social welfare and employment, up 4.1 percent from this year. (Yonhap)