S. Korea posts public account deficit in 2021
SEOUL, Sept. 15– South Korea posted a public account deficit last year as fiscal spending increased to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed on Thursday. The public account balance, which gauges the income and expenditure of the central and local governments as well as public enterprises, recorded a deficit of 35.7 trillion won in 2021,…
SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) — South Korea posted a public account deficit last year as fiscal spending increased to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed on Thursday.
The public account balance, which gauges the income and expenditure of the central and local governments as well as public enterprises, recorded a deficit of 35.7 trillion won (25.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The public account stayed in red for the second straight year due to higher fiscal spending to tackle the pandemic, but the 2021 figure was down from a deficit of 58.4 trillion won (41.8 billion U.S. dollars) tallied in 2020.
Total expenditure in the public sector gained 7.9 percent over the year to 1,022.3 trillion won (732.4 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021 as the government offered grants for people affected by the pandemic.
The public sector’s total income expanded 11.0 percent to 986.6 trillion won (706.8 billion U.S. dollars) last year due to an increased tax income.
Of the total income, the tax income came to 458.3 trillion won (328.3 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021, up from 392.6 trillion won (281.3 billion U.S. dollars) in the previous year. Enditem