Despite Collecting 35 Trillion Won More in Taxes... National Budget Deficit Already 71 Trillion Won in 2nd Supplementary Budget

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] As of the end of May this year, the national budget deficit exceeded 70 trillion won. The national debt, which surpassed 1,000 trillion won for the first time last month, increased again to 1,019 trillion won.

According to the "Monthly Fiscal Trend July Issue" announced by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 14th, the cumulative managed fiscal balance as of May showed a deficit of 71.2 trillion won, expanding the deficit by 22.7 trillion won compared to the same period last year.

The managed fiscal balance is an indicator that shows the government's actual fiscal condition by deducting the four major social security funds from the integrated fiscal balance (total revenue - total expenditure).

The Ministry of Economy and Finance stated, "The expansion of the managed fiscal balance deficit this time is a phenomenon due to concentrated spending on the second supplementary budget projects, such as the small business loss compensation fund (23 trillion won)," and added, "We plan to manage it within the scope of the second supplementary budget plan (managed fiscal balance deficit of 110.8 trillion won) until the end of the year."

The integrated fiscal balance recorded a deficit of 48.9 trillion won, with the deficit expanding by 28.4 trillion won compared to one year ago. Although total revenue increased mainly due to income tax and corporate tax, total expenditure increased more significantly due to the second supplementary budget.

As of the end of May, the central government debt balance was 1,018.8 trillion won, an increase of 17.8 trillion won compared to 1,001 trillion won at the end of April.

National debt is calculated by combining central government debt and local government debt, but since local government debt is calculated once a year, the monthly fiscal trend considers central government debt as national debt. The government expects the national debt size as of the end of June to slightly decrease due to the reduction in treasury bond issuance balance following the maturity repayment of treasury bonds in June. The forecast for national debt at the end of this year is 1,037.7 trillion won.

The amount of treasury bonds issued in June was 14.6 trillion won (12.1 trillion won based on competitive bidding). The cumulative treasury bond issuance from January to June this year was 104.5 trillion won, reaching 58.9% of the total annual issuance limit.

Total revenue as of May was 293.6 trillion won, an increase of 32.2 trillion won compared to one year ago. The cumulative national tax revenue as of May was 196.6 trillion won, an increase of 34.8 trillion won compared to the same period last year. The progress rate of national tax revenue against the second supplementary budget was 49.6%.

By tax item, corporate tax increased by 23 trillion won due to improved corporate performance last year, and income tax also increased by 9.1 trillion won.

Total expenditure was 342.5 trillion won, an increase of 60.6 trillion won compared to one year ago. The progress rate of total expenditure rose by 3.5 percentage points compared to the same period last year, reaching 50.4%.

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