South Korea's fiscal deficit surpassed 70 trillion won in the first five months of this year on the back of pandemic-related government spending.

The finance ministry explained on Thursday that the figure was primarily due to the second, giant supplementary budget that was drawn up in May, 23 trillion won of which was allocated as support funds to help small business owners hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the ministry, the managed fiscal balance, a key indicator of the government's fiscal soundness, recorded a deficit of 71-point-two trillion won, increasing by 22-point-seven trillion won on-year.

The ministry projected the deficit of the managed fiscal balance to reach up to 110-point-eight trillion won by the year’s end.

The national debt came to one quadrillion-18-point-eight trillion won as of the end of May, up by 17-point-eight trillion won from the month before.