Overview
- South Korea’s cabinet approved the 2025 fiscal settlement Monday, sending it to the state audit agency before submission to the National Assembly.
- Government accounts put sovereign debt at 1,304.5 trillion won at end‑2025, up 129.4 trillion won from a year earlier.
- The debt-to-GDP ratio reached 49 percent for 2025, higher than 2024 and just below the 2023 record of 50.4 percent.
- The managed fiscal balance, which excludes major social security funds and is used to gauge fiscal health, showed a 104.2 trillion won deficit equal to 3.9 percent of GDP.
- Officials blamed simultaneous shocks and said they used active fiscal support, as analysts warned of sustainability risks with the deficit above the 3 percent rule for six straight years and the ratio projected to rise to about 51.6 percent in 2026; separate data showed national assets jumped on a record 18.8 percent return at the National Pension Service.