Seoul: South Korea's fiscal deficit amounted to 35.5 trillion won (US$25.8 billion) for the period from January to May, as reported by the finance ministry on Thursday. The managed fiscal balance, which serves as a crucial indicator of fiscal health and is calculated under more stringent conditions, recorded a deficit of 54.2 trillion won during the same timeframe, according to information from the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
According to Yonhap News Agency, this figure exhibits an improvement over the managed fiscal deficit of 74.4 trillion won noted during the equivalent period of the previous year. The primary factor contributing to this improvement is a greater increase in revenue compared to expenditure, as stated by the ministry. Total revenue rose by 21.6 trillion won year-on-year, reaching 279.8 trillion won in the first five months of the year.
Specifically, tax revenue saw a rise of 21.3 trillion won, totaling 172.3 trillion won. Conversely, total expenditures experienced a smaller increase of 4.9 trillion won year-on-year, totaling 315.3 trillion won. By the end of May, the central government's outstanding debt was recorded at 1,217.8 trillion won, reflecting an increase of 19.9 trillion won from the previous month.
In June, the government issued 23.8 trillion won worth of bonds, with bond yields experiencing a rise from the previous month. This development comes amid expectations for the approval of a second supplementary budget and potential further rate cuts, as noted by the ministry. Furthermore, South Korea's National Assembly recently approved an additional budget bill valued at 31.8 trillion won, aimed at providing a boost to the economy.