SEOUL, April 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's tax revenue rose for the first two months of this year due to a recovery in corporate earnings and consumption expansion, government data showed Thursday.
Tax revenue came in at 58.0 trillion won (42.5 billion U.S. dollars) in the January-February period, up 3.8 trillion won (2.8 billion dollars) compared to the same period of last year, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Income tax revenue dwindled by 300 billion won (219.8 million dollars) on lower household income, but revenue from value-added tax expanded by 3.7 trillion won (2.7 billion dollars) on consumption improvement.
Corporate tax collection added 100 billion won (73.3 million dollars) on recovered corporate earnings.
Total revenue, including tax and non-tax revenues, grew 7.2 trillion won (5.3 billion dollars) to 97.2 trillion won (71.2 billion dollars) in the two-month period.
Total expenditure increased 12.5 trillion won (9.2 billion dollars) to 127.1 trillion won (93.1 billion dollars).
The managed fiscal balance, excluding social security fund, recorded a deficit of 36.2 trillion won (26.5 billion dollars) in the first two months of 2024.
The central government's debt stood at 1,120.4 trillion won (820.8 billion dollars) at the end of February, up 17.0 trillion won (12.5 billion dollars) from a month earlier. ■