Reduced Tax Revenue... National Budget Deficit of 65 Trillion Won Until November Last Year

National Debt Increased by 4 Trillion Won to 1109.5 Trillion Won
National Tax Revenue Decreased by 49.4 Trillion Won Compared to Last Year
Impact of Reduced Income Tax, Corporate Tax, and VAT

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choi Sang-mok is responding to a lawmaker's question at the plenary meeting of the Planning and Finance Committee held at the National Assembly on the 8th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Due to the economic slowdown and reduced tax revenue, the national budget recorded a deficit of about 65 trillion won from January to November last year.

According to the 'Fiscal Trends January Issue' announced by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 11th, the government's total revenue as of November last year was 529.2 trillion won, a decrease of 42.4 trillion won compared to the same period the previous year.

In particular, national tax revenue was 324.2 trillion won, down 49.4 trillion won from the same period last year. This was the result of a decline in major tax revenues such as income tax (-13.7 trillion won), corporate tax (-23.4 trillion won), and value-added tax (-5.7 trillion won) due to the overall economic downturn.

Non-tax revenue decreased by 2.6 trillion won to 24.8 trillion won, influenced by a reduction in surplus funds from the Bank of Korea (-3.7 trillion won) and an increase in interest income from the Postal Savings Special Account (1.4 trillion won).

Fund revenue increased by 9.5 trillion won to 180 trillion won due to rises in insurance premium income and statutory charges.

During the same period, the government's total expenditure was 548.6 trillion won, a decrease of 73.8 trillion won compared to the previous year. The budget decreased by 26.2 trillion won due to the reduction of COVID-19 response projects and local government grants, and funds decreased by 37.2 trillion won due to the end of loss compensation payments for small business owners.

The integrated fiscal balance, which is total revenue minus total expenditure, showed a deficit of 19.5 trillion won as of the end of November last year.

Excluding the 45.5 trillion won surplus from social security fund balances such as the National Pension, the management fiscal balance, which reflects the state of the national budget, recorded a deficit of 64.9 trillion won. The deficit size increased by 12.7 trillion won compared to the previous month.

The accumulated central government debt as of November last year was 1,109.5 trillion won. This represents a net increase of 76 trillion won compared to the end of the previous year. Among the debt, the balance of treasury bonds increased by 78.6 trillion won, while the balances of housing bonds and foreign exchange stabilization bonds decreased by 1.6 trillion won and 400 billion won, respectively. Compared to the previous month, it increased by 4 trillion won.

The government had anticipated that the central government debt would reach 1,101.7 trillion won by the end of last year when preparing the budget last year.

Han Joo-hee, Director of Fiscal Soundness at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said, "Considering factors such as the decrease in the outstanding amount of treasury bonds, the central government debt as of the end of the year is expected to decrease (compared to the end of November) and fall within the government's target."

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