<Anchor> In
the process of responding to the Corona 19 economic crisis, government fiscal expenditures surged, indicating that the country's debt and fiscal deficit were large last year.
This is in good shape compared to the developed countries and the world average, but national debt has surpassed the level of GDP for the first time.
Reporter Hwa Kang-yoon reports.
<Reporter> When the
government settled the fiscal year 2020, the debt was KRW 198.5 trillion, which was higher than the gross domestic product of KRW 1,924 trillion last year.
It is the first time since the introduction of current-based accounting in 2012 that debt has exceeded gross domestic product.
Income growth slowed down due to a decrease in corporate taxes, but as expenditures increased significantly, the deficit in the fiscal balance, which represents the country's livelihood, widened.
The consolidated fiscal balance recorded a record-breaking deficit of 71.2 trillion won.
Compared to GDP, it is -3.7%, the worst figure in 38 years since -3.9% in 1982.
The administrative fiscal deficit, which shows the government's actual fiscal situation, also recorded a record high of 112 trillion won by subtracting the four major funds with a large surplus.
[Kang Seung-jun/Financial Officer, Ministry of Strategy and Finance: It is a common situation that a large fiscal deficit occurs around the world due to the expansion of finance to respond to coronavirus.
Compared to advanced countries and the world average, Korea is at a good level.]
A total of 67 trillion won was prepared four times to pay for disaster support, and government bond issuance increased by 111.6 trillion won, which greatly increased the country's debt.
State debt, which represents the actual level of national debt, has increased to 846 trillion won, including the provisional value.
As a result, the ratio of national debt to GDP has jumped 6.3 percentage points in the first year from 37.7% to 44.0%.