The government plans to strictly adhere to its expansionary fiscal spending plan to help prop up the growth of its economy struggling with sagging exports and weak consumption, the finance ministry said Tuesday.

In a meeting to review fiscal spending progress, government officials said every effort will be made to follow through on expenditure programs in the fourth quarter and to minimize the amount of unused taxpayers' money.

The ministry predicted Asia's fourth-largest economy will grow just 3.1 percent on-year in 2015, down from an earlier estimate of 3.8 percent.

Noh Hyeong-ouk, head of the finance ministry's fiscal affairs office, said the government's goal is to spend all the money allocated for this year, with the exception of money not being spent because of lower crude prices, fluctuations in exchange rates and savings generated by cutting back on waste.

"Close attention must be paid to ensure that state funds reach the market in a timely manner," said Noh, who chaired the meeting.

In the case of social overhead capital related spending, measures will be taken to start work as early as possible to avoid the cold winter months, he added.

The decision comes as the frontloading of the budget in the second quarter helped to arrest the economic slide caused by the unexpected outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome that claimed 36 lives in the country.

Aggressive fiscal spending contributed some 0.7 percentage point to growth in the April-June period. During the three-month period, South Korea grew a mere 0.3 percent compared to the previous quarter.

The government, meanwhile, said that it is hopeful that the present spending plan will be followed.

As of late September, the central government and public sector companies spent 250.2 trillion won ($221.3 billion), 3 trillion won more than was originally planned. It said of the extra budget approved by lawmakers in July to counteract the fallouts of MERS, two-thirds was spent as of last month. (Yonhap)