[세종=뉴스핌] Reporter Choi On-jung = External debt at the end of last year was 5424 billion dollars, an increase of 75.5 billion dollars from a year ago. During the same period, external bonds increased by $73.1 billion, and net external bonds after debt from bonds decreased by $2.4 billion.
According to the’External Debt Trend and Evaluation at the End of 2020′ released by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance on the 19th, external debt as of the end of 2020 was $542.4 billion, an increase of $75.5 billion from the end of the previous year. Among them, short-term foreign debt with maturity of less than one year was $157.5 billion, compared to the end of the previous year, $23 billion, and long-term foreign debt with maturity exceeding one year was $385 billion, an increase of $52.5 billion in the same period.
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| [자료=기획재정부] 2021.02.19 [email protected] |
External bonds amounted to $1,207 trillion, up $73.1 billion from the end of the previous year. It is the first time that external debt has exceeded 1 trillion dollars. However, as external debt increased significantly more than external debt, net external debt reached 478.2 billion dollars. This is a decrease of $2.4 billion from the end of the previous year.
In the government sector, foreign investment in Korean won bonds increased. Compared to developing countries, the demand was driven by stable Korean won bonds. The government’s external debt increased by $28.8 billion compared to the end of the previous year as the dollar conversion amount also increased due to the fall of the appropriate exchange rate. The central bank’s debt also slightly increased as foreign bonds increased.
In the banking sector, external debt has increased by $27.5 billion as domestic foreign currency fund demand has increased since Corona 19. In particular, the expansion of short-term borrowings and the expansion of long-term foreign currency securities issuance to secure preemptive foreign currency liquidity have had an impact. Other sectors also increased by $17.8 billion due to the expansion of long-term foreign currency securities issuance by the corporate sector and the increase in cash and deposit assets.
The Ministry of Knowledge Economy evaluated that the short-term/total foreign debt ratio (29.0%, +0.2%p) and short-term foreign debt/foreign exchange holdings ratio (35.5%, +2.6%p) increased compared to the end of the previous year due to the increase in short-term and long-term external debt. However, it is considered that the soundness of external debt is still good as it has maintained the level of 30%, which is significantly lower than the previous crisis.
The Ministry of Science and Technology said, “As uncertainties in the international financial market continue, such as the emergence of the Corona 19 variant virus and the possibility of delayed vaccination, we plan to closely examine external debt trends and the possibility of future trends, while strengthening efforts to manage external soundness.” .