United Future Party: "National Debt May Surpass 1000 Trillion Before 2023"

Lee Jong-bae "If the 4th Supplementary Budget is Passed, 850 Trillion Won"
Could Be Sooner Than Government Forecast
Second 'Soda Policy Seminar'

Former President Park Hyung-su of the Korea Institute of Public Finance attended the Future United Party policy seminar held at the National Assembly on the 11th and gave a lecture on the topic "Sustainable National Finance! How to Protect It?". Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] The United Future Party has raised concerns that the national debt will surpass 1,000 trillion won faster than initially expected. This highlights the rapidly deteriorating state of national finances under the Moon Jae-in administration. According to the government's '2019?2023 National Fiscal Management Plan' released last year, the national debt was projected to exceed 1,000 trillion won by 2023.

On the morning of the 11th, Lee Jong-bae, Chairman of the Policy Committee, stated at the 'Cider' policy seminar held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building, "When the government released the fiscal management plan last year, it projected the national debt to reach 1,000 trillion won by 2023, but I think it might happen even earlier," adding, "This is a time to listen to whether sustainable national finances are possible while carrying rapidly increasing deficit bonds."

Lee, the Policy Committee Chairman, pointed out, "This year, the issuance of deficit bonds has exceeded 70 trillion won. National debt has surpassed 800 trillion won, and with the 4th supplementary budget, it seems to be close to 850 trillion won," emphasizing, "Few countries experience such a rapid increase in national debt. Among OECD countries, we are second only to Greece in the speed of increase."

In fact, government finances are already in an emergency state. While national tax revenues have been sluggish compared to last year, fiscal expenditures to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic have increased. According to the 'Monthly Fiscal Trends June Issue' published by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 9th, the integrated fiscal balance, which is total revenue minus total expenditure, recorded a deficit of 43.3 trillion won from January to April. The management fiscal balance, which excludes the four major social security funds from the integrated fiscal balance to show the government's actual fiscal condition, recorded a deficit of 56.6 trillion won during the same period, marking an all-time high.

The recent policy seminar was conducted in a format where former Korea Institute of Public Finance President Park Hyung-soo gave a closed lecture titled "Sustainable National Finances! How to Protect Them? A Microscope Review of Budget Deliberations," followed by a Q&A session with lawmakers. The United Future Party plans to hold the Cider policy seminar every Thursday to identify livelihood issues and connect them to policy. Each session invites external experts related to current issues for presentations and facilitates discussions among attending lawmakers. 'Cider' stands for solving 'Sa'(social) 'I'(issues) 'Da'(together).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.