IMF Public Funds Government Burden to Be Fully Repaid with Next Year’s Budget

The government has decided to repay all of the state’s share of the public funds injected during the 1997 foreign exchange crisis with next year’s budget. In next year’s budget bill, 7.9226 trillion won has been allocated, which will fully pay off the remaining debt of the Public Funds Repayment Fund, and the fund is scheduled to be officially liquidated at the end of next year. The debt subject to this repayment is not the IMF bailout loan, which was already fully repaid in 2001, but the publicfundsrelated debt incurred for supporting insolvent financial institutions and purchasing nonperforming loans during the foreign exchange crisis. Under the costsharing principle established in 2002, the government and the financial sector have shared the burden of repayment, and the state’s share has been settled through the Public Funds Repayment Fund. According to the National Assembly Budget Office, the outstanding debt balance of the Public Funds Repayment Fund stood at 15.0712 trillion won at the end of last year. After repaying 7.1486 trillion won this year, the remaining amount will also be fully repaid next year. The government explained that this completion of repayment means the end of financial restructuring following the foreign exchange crisis.