Last year's central government debt was confirmed at 1,268.1 trillion won, up 126.9 trillion won from a year earlier. The Board of Audit and Inspection on the 29th released a "financial statement" with these findings. The report reflects a review of documents including the "financial statement for fiscal year 2025" submitted earlier by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Of the central government debt, deficit debt that must be repaid with taxes accounted for 70.1% (889.3 trillion won). The remainder was financial debt with corresponding assets (378.8 trillion won). The ratio of debt to gross domestic product (GDP), based on the central government, was 47.6%. It was 3 percentage points higher than a year earlier (44.6%).
For fiscal year 2025, revenue was 597.9 trillion won, expenditures were 591 trillion won, and the consolidated surplus was tallied at 3.2 trillion won. The consolidated fiscal balance deficit widened by 3.2 trillion won from a year earlier, while the consolidated fiscal balance without social security fund deficit narrowed by 600 billion won. The above settlement of account for revenue and expenditures matched between the Ministry of Economy and Finance tabulation and the Board of Audit and Inspection calculation.
However, a total of 19 trillion won in errors was found and corrected in the financial statements. Errors included 9.4 trillion won in the asset line, 400 billion won in the liability line, and 9.2 trillion won in the fiscal operation results line (calculated by subtracting non-exchange revenue from net cost of fiscal operations).
For example, 9.03059 trillion won in unpaid national taxes (including inheritance and gift taxes) under the National Tax Service was not recognized as an asset, or infrastructure for the Metropolitan Express Railway under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (railways, bridges, etc.) was not registered as state-owned property (2.786 trillion won). As a result, national assets were revised to 3,593.4 trillion won, liabilities to 2,772 trillion won, and fiscal operation results to 64 trillion won.
The Board of Audit and Inspection also examined attached documents to the financial statements, including the comprehensive report on the management and operation of state-owned property, the report on the management and operation of goods, and the general statement of the current amount of bonds, and it was found that state-owned property and goods were understated on the books by 3.4974 trillion won and 7.5 billion won, respectively. After correcting the errors, state-owned property totaled 1,402.7 trillion won, goods 17.3 trillion won, and bonds 613.3 trillion won.
Meanwhile, under Article 99 of the Constitution and Article 21 of the Board of Audit and Inspection Act, the Board of Audit and Inspection audits the financial statement for the previous fiscal year and reports the results to the president and the National Assembly. The government submits the financial statement, reviewed by the Board of Audit and Inspection, to the National Assembly, and the settlement of account is finally approved after the assembly's deliberation.