South Korea's debt ratio is expected to fall to around 24 percent in 2015, a/GNA report showed Wednesday, indicating that the nation's fiscal status will improve faster than many other major economies.
According to the report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), South Korea's national debt ratio to its gross domestic product (GDP) will decline to 23.9 percent in 2015 from 32.1 percent projected for this year.
The ratio is the third lowest among 29 countries analyzed by the Washington-based lender. Hong Kong and Australia topped the list with 0.5 percent and 21.3 percent, respectively.
The average debt ratio of the analyzed nations -- mostly categorized as advanced countries -- was expected to stand at 108.2 percent in the cited year. The corresponding figure for the Group of 20 leading and emerging nations was 81.4 percent.
Japan was expected to see its debt-to-GDP ratio surge to 249.1 percent, hile Greece, Belgium, Ireland, Italy and the United States will also likely post three-digit debt ratios, according to the report.
The debt ratio for South Korea jumped recently as the government unleashed a range of economy-boosting measures to tide over the unprecedented global downturn. It rose to 32.6 percent in 2009, compared with 29.7 percent in 2007 and 29 percent in 2008.