Yoon Hee-sook: "Ministry of Economy and Finance's Fiscal Rules Are Just for Show and Grant Immunity to Current Government's Wasteful Spending"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] Yoon Hee-sook, a member of the People Power Party, criticized the fiscal rules announced by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 7th, calling them "a form that only shows off but grants immunity to the current government's reckless spending."

On the same day, Yoon stated on her Facebook, "With the form of fiscal rules created by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, it will become a rule that no matter how hard future governments try, they will not be able to comply with."

She said, "The strangest point about the Ministry of Economy and Finance's fiscal rules is why they made it in this form," adding, "In other advanced countries, the national debt ratio and fiscal balance are made into separate items and both are constrained, but the Ministry of Economy and Finance created the national debt ratio and integrated fiscal balance rules in a multiplicative form, raising doubts among many experts."

Yoon pointed out that this form grants immunity to the current government's reckless spending but makes it impossible for future governments to comply with the fiscal rules. She explained, "Even if the fiscal balance is maintained healthily, it is difficult to meet the limit due to the increase in national debt from the previous government," adding, "If this rule is applied to the long-term fiscal outlook presented by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, future governments will not only exceed the limit but will continuously deviate from it."

Yoon stated, "During the COVID-19 period, fiscal spending will be significantly injected to help those in difficulty, but we can no longer delay discussing how to return to the normal track afterward and how to design the normal track," and added, "It seems inevitable that effective fiscal rules should be made by the National Assembly, not the government."

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