[June 17, Korea Wave]Due to the South Korean government’s increased speedy fiscal execution and a decrease in national tax revenue, the deficit in the managed fiscal balance as of April this year reached 64.6 trillion won, the largest since statistics were compiled. The national debt also hit an all-time high.

According to the “Monthly Financial Trends June Edition” released by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance on the 13th, total cumulative revenue from January to April this year increased by 1.5 trillion won from the previous year to 213.3 trillion won, due to an increase in fund revenue.

National tax revenue was 125.6 trillion won, down 1.5 trillion won from the same period last year. By tax item, corporate tax fell by 12.8 trillion won due to sluggish business performance by corporations last year, while income tax also fell by 400 billion won due to an increase in year-end tax refunds. Value-added tax increased by 4.4 trillion won.

Non-tax revenue was 11.1 trillion won, up 700 billion won from the same period last year. Fund revenue increased by 9.2 trillion won from the same period last year to 76.6 trillion won.

Total expenditures increased by 19.6 trillion won from the same period last year to 260.4 trillion won, due to increased expenditures such as rapid execution.

Of the 252.9 trillion won planned for the year, 122.7 trillion won had been expedited by April, up 15.8 trillion won from 2017. The execution rate also rose 4.5 percentage points to 48.5%.

The consolidated fiscal balance, calculated by subtracting total expenditures from total revenues, recorded a deficit of 47.1 trillion won.

The managed fiscal balance, which shows the country’s effective financial position after excluding social security fund income from the consolidated fiscal balance, was in the red at 64.6 trillion won. This is the largest ever cumulative figure through April. The deficit was 19.2 trillion won larger than last year.

(c)news1/KOREA WAVE/AFPBB News