Gyeongnam Province's Debt Increases by 1 Trillion Won in 4 Years... Acquisition Team Promises to Greatly Reduce Unnecessary Spending

2018: 120 Billion KRW → 2022: 1.1071 Trillion KRW, Approximately 10-Fold Increase

On the 9th, Park Wan-su, the governor-elect of Gyeongnam Province, received a provincial government work report.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] The transition team of Park Wansu, the 38th Governor-elect of Gyeongnam Province, announced on the 16th that Gyeongnam Province's debt has increased by nearly 1 trillion won over the past four years.

The debt of Gyeongnam Province, which was 120 billion won in 2018, increased to 191.2 billion won in 2019, 450.7 billion won in 2020, 848 billion won in 2021, and 1.071 trillion won in 2022, rising by a total of 987.1 billion won, which means it increased about tenfold in four years.

Jeong Sisik, head of the transition team, said, “Although the debt ratio is lower than other cities and provinces, and considering the unnecessary financial expenditures due to COVID-19 over the past four years, an increase of nearly 1 trillion won in four years cannot be seen as normal debt management.”

He added, “With the recent rise in oil prices and interest rates and the expansion of domestic and international uncertainties, concerns about financial deterioration are increasing. Proactive and preemptive responses to fiscal reform are necessary for the future.”

Park Wansu, the Governor-elect of Gyeongnam Province, who pledged to reform the four major structures of economy, society, region, and administration, also vowed to prevent financial deterioration.

Park emphasized, “We will boldly spend where necessary, but firmly restructure wasteful financial expenditures in unnecessary areas.”

The transition team plans to analyze the causes of debt increase over the past four years, review whether there were reckless debt burdens or budget waste factors, and demand the establishment of fiscal reform measures to improve fiscal soundness.

Jeong said, “Unconditional fiscal tightening is not the solution. We will set principles for financial management that save the budget as much as possible so that not a single penny of the residents' taxes is wasted, and boldly invest where investment is needed, enabling the 8th elected administration to start anew.”

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