The public account balance, including the central and local governments, social security funds, and public companies, logged a deficit of 95.8 trillion won (72 billion U.S. dollars) in 2022, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It marked the highest shortfall since relevant data began to be compiled in 2007.
The public sector's total income gained 11.0 percent in 2022 from a year earlier, while the total expenditure soared 17.4 percent as higher commodity prices lifted production cost for public corporations while the central government expanded grants to pandemic-affected merchants and microbusinesses.
The central government's total spending amounted to 551.8 trillion won (415 billion dollars) in 2022, higher than its total income of 471.1 trillion won (354 billion dollars).
Total expenditure by non-financial public corporations came to 286.7 trillion won (215.7 billion dollars) last year, far higher than their total income of 222.8 trillion won (167.6 billion dollars).
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