National Debt Burden on the Increase
South Korea’s government bond issuance topped 60 trillion won, for the first time in history, in the first quarter of this year. Its national debt burden is on the increase in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The issuance totaled 62,400.2 billion won in the first quarter of this year, up 29.6 percent from a year earlier. The quarterly total is the largest since records began in 2006. The previous high, 56,150.2 billion won, was recorded in the second quarter of 2019.
The net government bond issuance, 49,677.9 billion won, also hit an all-time high in the first quarter of 2020. The previous high, 33,690.7 billion won, was in the first quarter of 2019.
It is pointed out that South Korea’s government bond-related burden will continue to increase for a while as supplementary budgets are likely to be repeated to counter the real economic impact of COVID-19. The South Korean government is planning to submit a follow-up supplementary budget bill to the National Assembly this week.