South Korea's top economic policymaker asked lawmakers to approve an extra budget plan in its original form to make funds available to reduce the fallout from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome outbreak and revive the country's growth momentum.

Last week, the government submitted the 11.8 trillion-won($10.3 billion) supplementary budget to the National Assembly for approval as part of efforts to revitalize the economy struggling with slumping exports and anemic domestic demand.

Speaking at the National Assembly's Strategy and Finance Committee meeting in Seoul, Choi Kyung-hwan stressed the special budget fully takes into account shortfalls in tax revenues and the need to spend more to help businesses and hospitals hurt by MERS.

Of the total, 5.6 trillion won is earmarked to cover tax shortfalls, with the rest to be used to prop up the economy and cover MERS-related damages.

"Lawmakers should try to understand why the government has filed the supplementary budget plan, and pass the request in its entirety," the finance minister said. He, however, apologized for asking for additional funds and acknowledged the government based its tax revenue target on the expectation of more robust growth.

"A slowdown in global economic growth, weak exports and MERS all hurt growth," he said. The official said every time growth falls by 1 percentage point, tax income declines by 2-3 trillion won.

Originally, Seoul said the economy will grow 3.8 percent in 2015, but this was downgraded to 3.1 percent last month.

Choi, who doubles as deputy prime minister for economic affairs, stressed that every effort has been made to limit incurring more debt and restrict outlays to areas that require fiscal support the most.

To cover a drop in tax earnings caused by the slower-than-expected pace of growth, he said reserves held by the Bank of Korea and money left over from last year will be used to the fullest.

 On the expenditure side, he said money will be used to not only deal with the MERS fallout but provide funds for small and medium-sized enterprises that have been hit by decreased domestic consumption. He said the 1.7 trillion won earmarked for social overhead capital projects can benefit employment.

To cope with a rise in national debt, Choi said the government will incorporate measures that can boost state income in next year's tax revenue plan.

The finance ministry is expected to unveil its 2016 tax revision early next month.

He did not elaborate on details but said efforts are under way to reduce or streamline various tax exemptions and benefits.

The finance minister said that while there is criticism about the size of the extra budget, the money should help push up growth by 0.3 percentage point this year and 0.4 percentage point in 2016.

"This can boost South Korea's economic expansion for next year so it will be on par with the country's potential growth rate," he said. The government predicted next year's growth will reach 3.5 percent.

The potential growth rate is broadly the maximum output growth that an economy can sustain over the medium to long term without stoking inflation.

Choi, meanwhile, vowed to take steps aimed at making more precise growth predictions in the future that would prevent tax revenue shortfalls. (Yonhap)