South Korea will draft a supplementary budget, which is expected to exceed 10 trillion won ($9 billion), in order to cope with the effects of the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and an economic fall.

Saenuri Party floor leader Yoo Seong-min told reporters after a party meeting on Wednesday that the government has told that five trillion won of the budget will be used to make up for tax deficits, while the other five trillion and some more will be for extra spending.

Reuters confirmed Yoo's comments with an aide, who requested not to be identified as he was not authorized to speak to media.

Yoo said in a statement that a meeting will be held with government officials early on Thursday to discuss the budget and economic policies for the second half of this year.

The finance ministry will release its revised economic forecasts on Thursday as well as its policy direction for the rest of 2015, Yoo added.

“Regarding the additional budget, the government has not prepared a precise list on where the extra spending will go. It's dangerous to confirm the size of the budget when that list has not been made available yet”, Yoo said.

The South Korean government has confirmed four new cases of MERS on Wednesday, bringing the total number of cases to 179.

The virus outbreak has so far taken 27 lives. Fear over contracting of MERS has kept South Koreans at home or away from shops.

Lee Ju-yeol, Bank of Korea Governor, said the declines in economic indicators linked to MERS are easing, but lethargy in service industries is expected to persist for a considerable time.