President Lee Expresses Regret Over Reports on "10% Net Debt Ratio Illusion," Citing Exclusion of IMF Assessment

IMF's Assessment of Fiscal Capacity Omitted

"Media Should Deliver Multi-dimensional Perspectives"

President Lee Counters Calls for Fiscal Austerity, Reaffirms Active Fiscal Policy

President Lee Jaemyung pointed out that recent media reports claiming that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects a lower net debt ratio for South Korea compared to major countries because the government's financial assets include the National Pension Fund do not reflect the IMF's overall assessment of South Korea's fiscal capacity.

According to chief spokesperson Kang Yoojeong, President Lee made these remarks during a senior aides meeting at the Blue House on May 7, referencing media coverage that stated, "The IMF's projected net debt ratio for South Korea (10.3%) is much lower than the average projection for the G20 countries (89.6%), but this is an illusion."

Yonhap News Agency

Chief spokesperson Kang further stated, "President Lee highlighted that in April, the IMF described South Korea as a country with historically strong fiscal health in its Fiscal Monitor, and in the annual consultation report released last October, it assessed that the central government's debt is sustainable and that South Korea has substantial fiscal capacity. President Lee expressed his regret that such evaluations and opinions were omitted from the media coverage."

She added, "President Lee also said he hopes that the Korean media will deliver diverse and multi-dimensional opinions and information to the public."

The reports cited by President Lee pointed out that the inclusion of pension fund reserves—which cannot be used for any purpose other than supporting the public in their retirement and are not a part of the government's actual fiscal capacity—in the government's financial assets used to calculate the net debt ratio means that this indicator alone may not be sufficient to conclude that South Korea's fiscal soundness is superior to that of other major countries.

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