April 19, 2024
Economy
Korea‘s national debt exceeds W950t
[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s national debt as measured in outstanding state bonds issued exceeded 950 trillion won (US$826.2 billion) last month, mainly due to the government’s expansionary fiscal policy to cope with an economic slowdown, data showed on July 5.
The conservative administrations of ex-Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye had favored the issuance of Treasury bills and various types of bonds to finance fiscal expansion, rather than raising taxes.
The nation’s debt, which covers the central government’s general and special accounts and funds, reached 958.7 trillion won at the end of last month, according to the data by the local financial investment industry.
During the first half of the year, 72.5 trillion won worth of government bonds were sold and 34.9 trillion won worth of bonds were repaid.
The latest findings showed the balance of government bonds grew to 581 trillion won at the end of 2016 from 274 trillion won in 2007.
By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)
The conservative administrations of ex-Presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye had favored the issuance of Treasury bills and various types of bonds to finance fiscal expansion, rather than raising taxes.
The nation’s debt, which covers the central government’s general and special accounts and funds, reached 958.7 trillion won at the end of last month, according to the data by the local financial investment industry.
During the first half of the year, 72.5 trillion won worth of government bonds were sold and 34.9 trillion won worth of bonds were repaid.
The latest findings showed the balance of government bonds grew to 581 trillion won at the end of 2016 from 274 trillion won in 2007.
By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)
