Seongnam City Early Repays 80 Billion Won in Local Bonds... Remaining Balance 160 Billion Won

Seongnam City Hall

[Asia Economy (Seongnam) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province repaid 80 billion won of local bonds, which were scheduled to be repaid in installments by 2027, four years ahead of schedule. Accordingly, Seongnam City saved 3.8 billion won in interest expenses.

This repayment amount is part of the total 240 billion won local bonds (Gyeonggi-do Regional Development Fund) issued by Seongnam City over the past three years (2019?2021) to purchase long-unexecuted park sites in preparation for the park sunset system.

The city explained that after the launch of the 8th term of the elected government, it reduced inefficient projects and cut unnecessary budgets, using the additionally accumulated Integrated Financial Stabilization Fund to repay the local bonds early.

As a result, the debt ratio of Seongnam City's 34.406 trillion won budget this year decreased from 6.9% (240 billion won) to 4.6% (160 billion won).

The city plans to gradually repay the remaining 160 billion won of local bonds by 2029 to reduce the debt to zero.

A city official said, "This early repayment of local bonds is the result of managing the budget objectively and efficiently to secure fiscal soundness," adding, "The interest savings from the early repayment will be invested in welfare enhancement projects for citizens."