The government is pushing to create a separate account to support asset building for young people within the Inclusive Finance Stabilization Fund to be established inside the Korea INclusive Finance Agency (KINFA). As the Lee Jae-myung administration has recently focused on youth policy, this is seen as an attempt to secure a stable budget through a separate account. If the account is separated, it receives a separate budget allocation.
According to related ministries and the financial sector on the 14th, the government is discussing with the National Assembly a plan to structure the Inclusive Finance Stabilization Fund along these lines. The fund will be created and managed by KINFA using resources such as contributions from financial companies to supply policy inclusive finance products.
The government initially planned to operate the fund with an Inclusive Finance Guarantee account (guarantee account) and a self-support account. The guarantee account would cover Sunshine Loans, a policy loan for low-income people, while the self-support account would handle microfinance, direct loans, and asset building, respectively.
To expand youth asset-building policies, the government is pushing to separate and operate the asset-building program, which had been included in the self-support account, as a standalone account. Separating the account secures a separate budget, broadening the fund's autonomy and scope of operation. Once the fund is set up, KINFA can supply about 20%–30% of expenditure without National Assembly approval.
KINFA plans to use this account to support Youth Hope Savings, Youth Leap Account, and Youth Future Savings. The government will launch Youth Future Savings in June to supplement existing youth policy finance products such as Youth Hope Savings and the Youth Leap Account.
The product targets young people ages 19–34 with annual income of 75 million won or less, allowing deposits of up to 500,000 won per month for three years. Including government matching and interest, the maximum amount receivable at maturity is 21.97 million won (principal 18 million won).
The Youth Leap Account and Youth Hope Savings, predecessors to Youth Future Savings, saw sluggish performance and faced potential budget cuts. For the Youth Leap Account, the government projected about 3 million subscribers in 2023, its first year, but actual subscribers numbered 510,000. In response, the government plans to devise improvements and create a separate account to strengthen support for youth asset building.