South Korea's fiscal deficit widened to 108 trillion won in September, while its national debt surpassed 800 trillion won for the first time, as the government made its fourth round of COVID-19 relief payments amid reduced tax revenue.

According to the Finance Ministry's latest economic report on Tuesday, the government's total revenue in the first nine months of this year hit 354 trillion won, down five-point-one trillion won compared to a year earlier.

This is because the amount of taxes collected dropped 13-point-four trillion won to total nearly 215 trillion won, reflecting noticeable declines of 15-point-eight and four-point-three trillion won, respectively, in corporate and value-added taxes.

Due to four rounds of extra budgets implemented this year to finance COVID-19 relief programs, government expenditures totaled 435 trillion won, up 48-point-eight trillion won on-year.

That has led to a record-high deficit of 108 trillion won in the January to September period, after the national pension and other social security funds are excluded. The national debt also rose to a record 800 trillion won, after expanding by over 100 trillion since late 2019.