Seoul, Sep 1 (TIWN) South Korea on Tuesday proposed a record-high government budget for 2021 to bolster economic recovery amid uncertainty over the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Proposal for the 2021 fiscal budget was set at 555.8 trillion won (469.7 billion U.S. dollars), 8.5 percent higher than this year's budget, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.  The record-high budget was unveiled to help reinvigorate the lackluster economy, caused by the COVID-19 outbreak across the world.  In late August, the country's central bank expected real gross domestic product (GDP) to contract 1.3 percent this year. It was down from the estimate of a 0.2-percent fall announced in May.