First-half tax revenue soars 36% on 1999

Thanks to economic recovery, the nation`s tax revenue during the first half of this year jumped 35.9% over the same period last year to 50.53 trillion won.

Despite such a brilliant collection of tax, the government maintained a tight money policy throughout the first half and recorded 13 trillion won in financial surplus, the largest since the outbreak of the foreign exchange crisis.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy reported on August 13 that the government had spent 57.5 trillion won and had collected tax revenue of 70.71 trillion won during the first half, noting that the surplus of 13.21 trillion won is equivalent to 2.5% of the nation`s gross domestic product.