“Fewer Disaster and Calamity Expenses, Decrease in Reserve Spending”… Last Year’s Revenue 536 Trillion Won, Expenditure 530 Trillion Won
‘Revenue Shortfall’ Reduces Local Resources by 7 Trillion Won, Surplus Exceeds 20 Trillion Won… Government Finalizes Total Revenue and Expenditure
SEJONG, Yonhap News – Reporters Min Kyung-rok and Song Jung-eun report that the unspent budget of the government exceeded 9 trillion won last year.
The settlement unused amount, including the automatic reduction of local resources by 6.5 trillion won due to a significant ‘revenue shortfall,’ surpassed 20 trillion won.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on the 10th that, together with the Board of Audit and Inspection at the Korea Fiscal Information Service, it finalized and confirmed the total revenue and expenditure report for the 2024 fiscal year.
Last year’s total revenue was 535.9 trillion won, a decrease of 14.1 trillion won from the budget. However, this was an increase of 39 trillion won compared to the previous year’s results.
National taxes collected fell by 30.8 trillion won from the budget at 336.5 trillion won, affected by factors such as a reduction in corporate tax due to economic slowdown.
Compared to the revised estimates announced last September, there was a decline of 1.2 trillion won, significantly influenced by a reduction in value-added tax due to sluggish domestic demand.
Other revenues increased by 16.7 trillion won, reaching 199.4 trillion won. This increase was due to factors like the expansion of public fund deposits and an increase in regular transfer income.
Last year’s total expenditure was 529.5 trillion won.
After deducting deferred spending of 4.5 trillion won from the surplus of 6.5 trillion won in total revenue over total expenditure, the world surplus was 2 trillion won.
Out of this surplus, 1.6 trillion won accounted for the special account surplus, with the remaining 400 billion won as the general account surplus. The general account surplus is used in order for settling local subsidies, contributing to public funds repayment, and securing supplemental budget resources.
The settlement unused amount, which subtracts total expenditure and deferred spending from the budget, including the previous year’s carryover (554 trillion won), was 20.1 trillion won.
The reduction in national taxes led to a decrease in local grants by 6.5 trillion won, resulting in significant unexecuted budget from last year’s large-scale revenue shortfall.
The actual unspent amount, excluding local grant reduction and internal transactions (4.3 trillion won) between government accounts and funds from the settlement unused amount, was calculated as 9.3 trillion won.
While this is 1.5 trillion won less than the previous year (10.8 trillion won), it is the second largest on record.
The government explained that the lower spending of reserves due to fewer demands from disasters such as heavy rains and typhoons compared to previous years contributed to this result.
Most of the actual unspent amount is attributed to unspent project funds and reserves, which directly impacts the real economy.
The closing of the revenue and expenditure report confirms the government’s revenue and expenditure for the previous year, excluding funds, that pertain to general and special account performance. Based on these results, the government prepares a national settlement report, which is submitted to the National Assembly after inspection by the Board of Audit and Inspection by May.
Kim Yoon-sang, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, stated, “Despite the tax revenue shortage occurring for the second consecutive year, we supported ensuring smooth execution of fiscal projects by utilizing spare resources from funds.”
rock@yna.co.kr