Next Year’s Maturing Government Bonds Surpass 90 Trillion Won... "Impact of COVID-19 Spending"

Ministry of Economy and Finance Publishes 'Government Bonds 2021' White Paper
Foreign Investors Purchased Record 63.9 Trillion Won Last Year... Holdings Increased to 214 Trillion Won

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Economy and Finance, is speaking while presiding over the Emergency Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 31st. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The volume of maturing government bonds is expected to exceed 90 trillion won next year, up from 56 trillion won this year. This is due to the maturity of government bonds issued to raise funds for responding to COVID-19.

According to the government bond white paper "Government Bonds 2021" published by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 31st, the scale of maturing government bonds as of the end of last year was 56.1885 trillion won this year and 90.3774 trillion won in 2023.

The government issued 180.5 trillion won in government bonds last year, an increase of 6 trillion won compared to the previous year. The issuance of government bonds increased as fiscal demand rose due to the supplementary budget for overcoming COVID-19. The net increase in government bond issuance was 120.6 trillion won, up 5.3 trillion won, and the redemption amount was 59.9 trillion won, up 700 billion won.

To stably absorb the historically largest issuance volume, the government pursued adjustments in issuance volume by maturity and timing considering market conditions. Supply capacity was expanded through new issuance of 2-year bonds, and market stabilization measures such as three rounds of buybacks totaling 4 trillion won and the Bank of Korea's simple purchase of government bonds worth 6 trillion won were implemented.

Last year, foreign investors' net purchases of government bonds reached a record high of 63.9 trillion won. The balance of government bonds held by foreigners increased from 91 trillion won in 2012, 101.4 trillion won in 2015, 123.7 trillion won in 2019, 150.1 trillion won in 2020, to 214 trillion won as of the end of last year.

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