Government Investment Stock Dividend Income 2.5 Trillion Won... Jumped 1 Trillion Won in One Year

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Son Seon-hee] It has been revealed that the dividends received by the government this year from equity investments approached 2.5 trillion KRW. As the performance of the invested institutions improved, dividend income increased by more than 1 trillion KRW in one year.

On the 31st, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that it completed the 2022 dividend procedures for a total of 39 government-invested institutions and received dividends totaling 2.4541 trillion KRW. This is an increase of 1.0145 trillion KRW compared to the previous year. The average dividend payout ratio rose by 3.46 percentage points from the previous year to 40.38%. Among the 39 government-invested institutions, 19 institutions paid dividends, while the remaining 20 were excluded from this year's dividends due to net losses and offsetting of accumulated deficits.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance explained that the increase of over 1 trillion KRW in dividends this year was due to improved performance of dividend-paying institutions despite Korea Electric Power Corporation’s net loss caused by rising fuel costs. The performance of dividend-paying institutions increased from 8.0694 trillion KRW in 2020 to 10.8324 trillion KRW last year.

By institution, Korea Development Bank paid the highest dividends at 833.1 billion KRW, followed by Korea Land and Housing Corporation (744.1 billion KRW), Industrial Bank of Korea (370.1 billion KRW), and Export-Import Bank of Korea (131.5 billion KRW).

The Ministry of Economy and Finance plans to award commendations from the Deputy Prime Minister to three outstanding dividend-paying institutions that actively cooperated with government dividends: Korea Investment Corporation, Korea Oil Pipeline Corporation, and Korea Expressway Corporation.

The Ministry explained, "This dividend was finalized after consultation with the institutions and relevant ministries, considering the government’s fiscal conditions as well as the financial soundness and stable management funding needs of the dividend-paying institutions."

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