The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 28th that high oil price relief payments provided through this year's supplementary budget had a positive effect on restoring sales for small business owners and neighborhood commercial districts nationwide.
The government is providing a total of 6.1 trillion won in high oil price relief payments to ease the burden on ordinary people from high oil prices, a strong dollar, and high inflation. The payments are designed to be used only at business sites with annual sales of 3 billion won or less, focusing on boosting consumption in local neighborhood markets.
Using small business sales data held by Korea Credit Data (KCD), the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) analyzed the effect of the high oil price relief payments and found that nationwide small business sales increased year over year during the three weeks from May 18, when the second round of payments began, to June 7.
In fact, after the payments were made, nationwide business owners' sales rose 10.6% from the same period a year earlier and increased 2.7% from the week before the payments. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) said the relief payments primed the pump as consumer sentiment, dampened by high oil prices, a strong dollar, and high inflation, began to recover.
By region, all 17 metropolitan cities and provinces nationwide saw sales increase more than 5% year over year. Busan recorded the highest growth rate at 16.0%, followed by South Gyeongsang (14.7%), Daegu (14.0%), and Incheon (13.8%). Even in Jeju, which had the smallest increase, sales rose 5.2%.
By industry, sales growth was notable in retail and education services. Retail rose 16.4% year over year, and education services increased 11.2%, both outpacing the overall average. By contrast, arts, sports, and leisure rose only 4.6%.
Traditional markets also showed clear effects from the payments. Sujeong Traditional Market in Dong-gu, Busan, saw sales jump 123.7% year over year, and East Sea Central Market in Gangwon (114.8%) and Samcheonpo Central Market in South Gyeongsang (114.0%) more than doubled sales.
Lee Byeong-gweon, the second vice minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), said, "Through collaboration with private data corporations, we confirmed that the high oil price relief payments have made a practical contribution to reviving the livelihood economy and revitalizing local commercial districts," adding, "We will continue to integrate public and private data in the small business sector and use them to establish more sophisticated, tailored policies."