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S. Korea's debt-to-GDP ratio rises to 49.6 pct in 2022

SEOUL
2023-04-04 14:13

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SEOUL, April 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's ratio of sovereign debt to gross domestic product (GDP) rose last year due to an increased fiscal expenditure to counter the COVID-19 pandemic, government data showed Tuesday.

The debt-to-GDP ratio gained 2.7 percentage points to 49.6 percent last year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance's report on the 2022 national settlement set to be submitted to the National Assembly.

The sovereign debt, which measures the amount of bond sales and financial borrowing by the central and provincial governments, stood at 1,067.7 trillion won (811.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2022, up 97.0 trillion won (73.8 billion U.S. dollars) from the previous year.

The expanded debt came as the government unveiled two supplementary budgets of over 70 trillion won (53 billion U.S. dollars) to support small businesses and the self-employed damaged by the pandemic.

The government's total revenue grew 8.3 percent to 617.8 trillion won (469.8 billion U.S. dollars) in 2022, while the total fiscal expenditure jumped 13.5 percent to 682.4 trillion won (518.9 billion U.S. dollars).

The consolidated fiscal balance posted a deficit of 64.6 trillion won (49.1 billion U.S. dollars) last year, more than doubling a deficit of 30.5 trillion won (23.2 billion U.S. dollars) in the previous year.

The managed fiscal balance, excluding the balance of social safety funds, reached a deficit of 117.0 trillion won (89 billion U.S. dollars) last year, up 26.4 trillion won (20.1 billion U.S. dollars) from a year earlier.

The state liabilities, which include unconfirmed liabilities for future pension payments as well as financial borrowing and bond sales, rose 6.0 percent to hit a new high of 2,326.2 trillion won (1.77 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2022.

The state assets fell 1.0 percent to 2,836.3 trillion won (2.16 trillion U.S. dollars) last year.
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