Ministry of Economy and Finance Announces 2025 Fund Evaluation Results
National Pension Fund Rated "Good" Since 2020
Operation Evaluation Score Slightly Down to 77.5 Points
Nongoga Savings Fund Recommended for Abolition for Third Consecutive Time
"Continued Decline in Demand, Low Necessity for Maintenance"
The National Pension Fund received a "Good" rating in this year's fund evaluation. The Nongoga Savings Encouragement Fund (Nongoga Savings Fund) was recommended for abolition for the third consecutive year.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance reported the results of the "2025 Fund Evaluation" at a Cabinet meeting held at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on May 28. The fund evaluation is a system that examines the status of funds in accordance with the National Finance Act. It consists of an "operation evaluation," which assesses how well surplus assets have been managed, and a "continuation evaluation," which determines whether the fund system should be maintained. This year, 27 funds underwent operation evaluations, and 19 funds were subject to continuation evaluations.
The National Pension Fund received a "Good" rating in the operation evaluation. The "Good" rating is the third highest, following "Excellent" and "Outstanding." The National Pension Fund has received a "Good" rating for six consecutive years since 2020. Last year, the National Pension Fund achieved a financial sector return of 15.32%, marking its best performance since the 2000s.
However, the operation evaluation score slightly decreased from 78 points to 77.5 points. The Ministry of Economy and Finance explained that this was due to a decline in the fund's relative return. The relative return is an indicator that measures how much the fund exceeded the benchmark target return set by the Fund Management Committee. The National Pension Fund's relative return was -0.23 percentage points, down from 0.04 percentage points the previous year.
The remaining 26 funds received an average score of 73.7 points, up slightly from 72.1 points the previous year. The highest "Excellent" rating was awarded to the Private School Teachers' Pension Fund and the Small and Medium Venture Business Startup and Promotion Fund. Fifteen funds, including the Government Employees Pension Fund and the Credit Guarantee Fund, received an "Outstanding" rating. The number of funds with an "Outstanding" rating increased by four from 11 the previous year. The Judicial Service Promotion Fund received an "Average" rating, while the Culture and Arts Promotion Fund was rated "Insufficient."
In the continuation evaluation, the Nongoga Savings Fund was recommended for abolition. The Ministry of Economy and Finance stated that this was due to the continued decline in demand. Since the annual budget is allocated from the general account and Bank of Korea contributions according to the expected demand for a single year, the necessity of maintaining the fund is considered low. This is the third time that the Nongoga Savings Fund has been recommended for abolition. The continuation evaluation is conducted every three years, and the Nongoga Savings Fund has been recommended for abolition in every evaluation since 2019.
The Gender Equality Fund, Youth Development Fund, and Regional Newspaper Development Fund were recommended for "conditional continuation" on the condition that they diversify their funding sources. The reason is that all or most of their income depends on external sources, making it difficult to achieve the original purpose of the fund or resulting in an inefficient funding structure. The Gender Equality Fund and Youth Development Fund are financed by transfers from the Lottery Fund, while the Regional Newspaper Development Fund receives transfers from the Media Promotion Fund, which conducts similar projects.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance will use the results of the fund evaluation in fiscal management, including the establishment of next year's fund operation plan. The relevant information will be submitted to the National Assembly at the end of this month and disclosed through the Open Fiscal Information website.
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