[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s fiscal spending on infrastructure-building projects in the first quarter contributed to the creation of more jobs, the Finance Ministry here said April 21.

The government spent 14.9 trillion won (US$13.09 billion) carrying out social overhead capital projects in the January-March period, up 200 million won from its earlier plan, according to the ministry.

Total budget spending by the government and public institutions reached 89.3 trillion won over the three-month period.

The ministry said the extended government spending contributed to raising the number of newly employed people in the construction sector by 164,000 in March.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)