By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter
The country's state debt is expected to grow by 184 trillion won over the next five years, according to a state-run economic think tank. Two thirds of the state debt will have to be shouldered by taxpayers.
According to the Korea Institute of Public Finance, state debt will reach 493.4 trillion won in 2013, up 184.4 trillion won from 2008. The estimation is based on the Ministry of Strategy and Finance's state debt management plan.
State debt is expected to snowball from 309 trillion won in 2008 and 364.1 trillion won last year to 400 trillion won this year before marking 446.7 trillion won in 2011. In 2014, it is expected to surpass 500 trillion won.
Among the 493.4 trillion won debt expected in 2013, 67.5 percent will have to be supported by taxpayers. The rest of the debt is financial debt such as bonds for stabilizing the foreign exchange market or bonds to stabilize the housing of the working class, which is no burden to taxpayers.
In 2008, 42.9 percent of the state debt was assumed by taxpayers, but their stake rose to 46.1 percent last year, and is expected to mark 48.6 percent this year.
There has been growing concern over the country's growing debt, especially after the troubles discovered in some European countries.
Recently concerns have been raised over the debt of state run enterprises, which is not included in the state debt. It has been rising by an annual 20.6 percent on average over the past five years.
The debt of 10 major state run enterprises stood at 157 trillion won as of 2008, and is estimated to double to 302 trillion won by 2012.
The institute, however, was optimistic about the country's fiscal health. Korea ranked at 19th among OECD member countries in terms of the growth pace of state debt. The IMF estimated Korea's debt to GDP ratio at 35.4 percent for 2014, which is fairly low compared with other developed economies.
The Ministry of Strategy and Finance reported to the National Assembly Wednesday that it plans to achieve a balanced budget in around 2013 or 2014, by restructuring budget spending and expanding the tax income base.