S. Korea retrieves over 72 pct of bailout funds since 1997 financial crisis

public funds-retrieval

S. Korea retrieves over 72 pct of bailout funds since 1997 financial crisis

SEOUL, April 21 (Yonhap) -- The government has retrieved over 72 percent of the public funds used to bail out troubled financial firms since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, the financial regulator said Tuesday.

As of end-March, the government has been paid back 72.6 percent, or 122.4 trillion won (US$83.2 billion), of the 168.7 trillion won in bailout funds, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC).

The reading marks a 0.1 percentage-point rise from three months earlier, the data showed.

During the first quarter of the year alone, some 161 billion won was recovered.

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