Daegu City Wins Presidential Award for Local Finance ... Hong Jun-pyo: "Debt Repayment is the Top Priority"

Kim Jong-han, Deputy Mayor of Daegu (third from the left in the photo), is receiving the Presidential Award for Local Finance and a congratulatory bouquet.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Koo Dae-sun] Daegu City received the Presidential Award at the ‘Korea Local Finance Awards’ on the 22nd.

Daegu City was selected as the top among special and metropolitan cities at the ‘15th Korea Local Finance Awards,’ receiving the highest honor, the Presidential Award, along with a special grant of 2 billion KRW as a prize.

The Korea Local Finance Awards have been held annually since 2008 under the name ‘Local Finance Excellence Awards’ to discover exemplary cases of sound local financial management and share achievements to enhance the efficiency of local finance. Marking its 15th year this year, the name was changed to ‘Korea Local Finance Awards,’ and the scale of the ceremony and financial incentives were significantly expanded, further elevating the prestige of the award.

Daegu City presented its financial innovation initiatives under the theme ‘Preparing Daegu’s Future 50 Years through Strong Financial Innovation’ during the 8th elected administration, earning recognition for debt reduction and efforts to stabilize finances, thus receiving the honor of the Presidential Award. Additionally, it was selected as the ‘Best Local Government for the 2022 Resident Participatory Budget System,’ receiving the Minister of the Interior and Safety Award along with a special grant of 150 million KRW.

In this evaluation, Daegu City received the highest award in the city/province comprehensive category, confirming once again its status as a leading institution in the resident participatory budget system by being selected as the best institution for four consecutive years since 2019.

Furthermore, Daegu City was selected as the best local government in the 2022 local government financial analysis conducted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety among 243 local governments nationwide, receiving a special grant of 50 million KRW.

The financial analysis classifies local governments with similar population and financial status into 13 types and annually conducts a comprehensive analysis and evaluation of financial status based on 13 indicators across three areas: soundness, efficiency, and planning.

Hong Joon-pyo, Mayor of Daegu City, stated, “Despite having the second-highest debt-to-budget ratio nationwide, we will prioritize financial soundness through debt repayment as the top task in financial management and strive to ensure that investments in the livelihood economy and social safety net are not neglected.”

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