S. Korea's fiscal deficit tops 25 tln won in Sept.

SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's fiscal deficit soared to 25.69 trillion
won (US$22.21 billion) in late September as state spending outpaced revenues, the
government said Tuesday.

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said the government's consolidated budget
spending, including loans, reached 221.87 trillion won in the first nine months
of this year while earnings totaled 196.18 trillion won.
The deficit widened by around 9 trillion won compared with the 16.34 trillion won
tallied at the end of August, the ministry said in a release.
"The gain is the sharpest since the 10 trillion won (on-month) jump reported for
May," the release said.
The ministry, however, claimed that while the size of the consolidated budget
deficit neared an all-time high, it will be possible to keep the overall deficit
at around 22 trillion won for the year.
The fiscal imbalance is mostly due to the expansionist economic policies South
Korea rolled out to shore up the economy amid a worldwide crisis, it said.
The National Assembly passed a 28.4 trillion won extra budget in late April to
launch large-scale social infrastructure projects, support so-called green growth
industries and stimulate private consumption.
South Korea's economy, Asia's fourth largest, may pull off 0.1 percent on-year
growth this year, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development, and continue to expand 4-5 percent in 2010 as the global economy
starts to shake off this year's lethargy.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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