Until March of this year, the actual deficit in the national budget balance, which shows the actual living expenses of the country, exceeded 75 trillion won. Accumulated until March, it is the largest deficit ever.
The total expenditure in the first quarter increased by more than 25 trillion won compared to the same period a year ago, mainly due to swift execution and other factors.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance published the May issue of the monthly financial trend today (9th) containing these contents.
– Increase in fund revenue… National tax revenue decreased by 2.2 trillion won
Until March, total revenue in South Korea increased by 2.1 trillion won compared to the same period last year, amounting to 147.5 trillion won. Fund revenue increased by 4.2 trillion won to 55.1 trillion won, and extra-governmental revenue increased by 1 trillion won to 7.5 trillion won.
On the other hand, national tax revenue decreased by 2.2 trillion won compared to the previous year, amounting to 84.9 trillion won. Due to poor business performance of corporations in the year-end settlement as of December last year, corporate tax decreased by 5.5 trillion won, and income tax decreased by 700 billion won due to reduced performance bonuses, etc.
– Increase in expenditure due to ‘swift execution’… Record-breaking deficit
Total expenditure amounted to 212.2 trillion won, an increase of 25.4 trillion won compared to the same period last year, mainly due to increased spending such as ‘swift execution’.
Until March, ‘swift execution’ amounted to 106.1 trillion won, showing an execution rate of 41.9% of the annual plan of 252.9 trillion won.
As a result, the integrated financial balance until March showed a deficit of 64.7 trillion won.
Excluding the balance of the four major guaranteed funds including the National Pension from the integrated financial balance, the management financial index showing the actual financial situation showed a deficit of 75.3 trillion won. Since the start of monthly aggregation of financial balances in 2014, the accumulated deficit by March has reached this level for the first time, showing the largest deficit ever as of March.
As of the end of March, the central government’s debt balance decreased by 4.9 trillion won compared to the previous month to 1,115.5 trillion won.
Han Ju-hee, the head of financial soundness at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, explained, “The first quarter’s swift execution hit a record high, leading to an increase in total expenditures and a larger deficit,” and said, “It is difficult to predict the annual deficit size as monthly revenues and expenditures are flexible.”