October 30, 2024

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South Korea sold a record 48.5 trillion won ($42.5 billion) of state bonds in the first quarter of this year as the government raised more money to fund state-run projects, data showed on April 10.

According to the data from the Korea Financial Investment Association, the amount of government bonds issued in the first quarter jumped 42.3 percent from a year ago.
 

It surpasses the previous largest quarterly amount, recorded in the second quarter of 2014, when the government sold 46.4 trillion won of state bonds, the data showed.

The outstanding amount of government bonds stood at 674.5 trillion won at the end of March, up 2.1 percent from the second quarter of last year, according to the data.

Korea is expected to sell more state bonds this year as tax revenues are likely to fall on sluggish performances in the semiconductor and property sectors, analysts said.

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki has said the government plans to submit an extra budget bill to the parliament later this month to cope with fine dust and boost the slowing economy and job creation, with the market estimating the amount at up to 10 trillion won.

Last year, the government collected 385 trillion won in taxes, up 25.5 trillion won from a year earlier.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)