Public corporations see earnings surge in 2014

South Korea's public corporations and state-run institutions saw their earnings jump in 2014 from a year earlier thanks to an overhaul of their operations and debt reduction efforts, the government said Wednesday.

The combined net of 116 public corporations and institutions reached 11.3 trillion won ($10.1 billion) last year, up from 5.3 trillion won in 2013, the finance ministry said.

Of the total, 36 corporations paid dividends of 880 billion won to the government last year, up 42.3 percent from the previous year.

The ministry said 18 highly indebted corporations were able to cut their debts by 35.3 trillion won last year, 3.1 trillion won more than originally planned.

In addition, 116 public companies slashed welfare benefits for employees by 27.8 percent, or 154.8 billion won, over the cited period.

Despite the improvements, the ministry said it is recommending the dismissal of three public enterprise chiefs for poor performance.

Presiding over a meeting on the assessment of public corporations, Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said the ongoing public sector reform drive is making positive progress.

"The first phase of reforms that kicked off last year has resulted in tangible improvements," he said. "There have been concerted efforts to tackle managerial inefficiency."

Sales of redundant assets and readjustments of projects have helped reduce the total public-sector debt significantly, the minister said.

As of end-2014, the liabilities of public corporations were 13 trillion won lower than the 510 trillion won target set by the government.

Choi, who doubles as deputy prime minister for economic affairs, said the government will push forward with the second phase of public sector reforms centered on the introduction of a wage peak system for state-supported entities, which could enable public corporations to hire some 6,700 young people in the 2016-2017 period. (Yonhap)

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