South Korea's operational fiscal balance was in the red by 30.2 trillion won ($27.96 billion) for January-November period last year, mainly due to a drop in tax earnings while the government spent more, the finance ministry said Tuesday.

The deficit is significantly larger than the 21.1 trillion won deficit for the whole of 2013, the ministry's Monthly Finance Report showed.

"The steep rise in the fiscal balance deficit was caused by the drop in tax revenue brought on by the sluggish economy and expansionary stance taken by the government in order to fuel growth," the report said.

Operational fiscal balance is the key economic indicator in measuring the country's fiscal health.

The balance has been on the negative side since 2008, reaching a peak in 2009 when it surged to 43.2 trillion won.

The consolidated public sector balance, which takes into account inflow of money for social security-related funds and payment demand for public funds, was in the black by 3.3 trillion won for the 11-month period.

The government's overall intake, including money accrued for social security purposes, reached 316.8 trillion won in the cited period with expenditures reaching 313.5 trillion won.

For November alone, the consolidated public sector balance posted a deficit of 2.1 trillion won while the operational fiscal balance was in the red by 4.7 trillion won.

The monthly report said as of late November, the central government's debt reached 509 trillion won, up from 46.4 trillion won tallied for the previous year. This number also represents an increase of 6.2 trillion won from the month before.

The monthly increase was attributed to more debts accumulated from the issuing of state bonds.

Of the 299.4 trillion won worth of projects to be financed by the government last year, 294 trillion won, or 98.2 percent, was spent by November, the report said. (Yonhap)