(Bloomberg) -- South Korea will raise the cap on meal expenses for public officials for the first time in eight years to better reflect the recent inflationary pressures, the anti-graft agency said Tuesday.
The Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission decided to increase the limit to 50,000 won ($36) from 30,000 won ($22) per meal after a meeting Monday. The amendments will take effect as early as September after going through legislative notice and cabinet approval.
South Korea, which has a tradition of exchanging gifts during some national holidays, introduced the current anti-graft laws in 2016 to weed out corruption among public officials.
The threshold is now being raised to better align it with macro factors such as high consumer prices, encourage spending and help support the restaurant industry, which has been calling for relaxing the cap, said Jeong Seung-yoon, deputy chairman of the anti-graft agency.
The current law was enacted to limit the amount of money that could be spent on meals and gifts for public officials, teachers and journalists but it faced a backlash for not being high enough to cover basic gifts and food that are considered as a courtesy.
--With assistance from Shinhye Kang.
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