People Power Party: "Despite Surplus Tax Revenue, 106 Trillion Won in Deficit Bonds... When Will the Debt Be Repaid?"

"104 Trillion Won in Future Response Fund Is the Administration's Slush Fund"

On September 1, the People Power Party defined the government's 2027 draft budget as a "runaway elastic budget" and announced plans for thorough scrutiny. The party criticized the government for increasing the issuance of deficit government bonds and expanding the debt burden on future generations, even though next year's national tax revenues are expected to grow significantly.

Yoo Sangbeom, the spokesperson of the People Power Party on the National Assembly Special Committee on Budget and Accounts, stated at a press conference, "It is contradictory to increase deficit government bond issuance without repaying debt first, especially when excess tax revenues are expected to rise."

He went on to question, "If the government expands spending by issuing deficit government bonds due to poor economic conditions, and then further increases spending when there is excess tax revenue, when exactly will it repay government debt to ease the burden on future generations?"

Yoo Sangbeom, Spokesperson of the People Power Party on the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Deliberation Committee. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Assemblyman Yoo argued that while the government claims next year's budget has increased by 12.8% to 820.9 trillion won compared to this year, the actual increase reaches 27.1% to 925.3 trillion won when including the 104.4 trillion won in surplus funds from the Future Response Fund. He referred to the Future Response Fund as a "slush fund for the administration" and strongly urged that it should be prioritized for paying down national debt.

He also pointed out that next year's national debt will surge by 106 trillion won to a total of 1,519.8 trillion won as a major problem. Yoo criticized the fact that while the Bank of Korea maintains a tight monetary policy, the government continues with expansionary fiscal policy, calling it a "serious policy mismatch."

Fellow committee member Lee Jongwook of the People Power Party also criticized the government for planning to operate massive surplus funds in the Future Response Fund while still issuing government bonds. Assemblyman Lee stated, "This is akin to borrowing money to invest in stocks," adding, "You simply cannot manage national finances in this manner."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.