IMF Executive Offers Opinion

Bito Tanzi, a senior executive with the IMF (International Monetary Fund) visiting Korea, said in a symposium organized by the Korea Tax Research Institute, ' Korea's government will have to abolish a variety of tax priviledges and raise tax rates for personal income in order to increase tax revenues to provide some form of social security as soon as possible.'
He added that Korea should make their labor market more flexible so that employers may hire more freely.
Mr. Tanzi pointed out that a 7% unemployment rate is still quite low compared to other developed countries, therefore it could be higher in order to make the labor market more flexible.
He asked for sound fiscal policies by the government, warning of the danger that Korea's public liabilities could reach the 73.9% level of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) with a scale of 320 trillion won.