The government has decided to supply an unprecedented amount of new funding amounting to 39 trillion won to support small business owners and medium-sized enterprises facing temporary financial pressure for the upcoming Lunar New Year. Additionally, to alleviate the burden on ordinary citizens and the middle class due to worsening economic conditions, the government will swiftly provide a record high of 11 trillion won in policy finance.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Sang-mok held a meeting on national issues and economic relations on the 9th, where he announced the 'Lunar New Year measures' containing these details.
◇ 37 trillion won in loans and guarantees for small business owners and medium-sized enterprises
The government will supply 37 trillion won in loan funding to support the cash flow of small business owners during the holiday season, along with 1.9 trillion won in guarantees through the Credit Guarantee Fund and the Technology Guarantee Fund. Additionally, 1.45 trillion won in accounts receivable will be insured before and after the Lunar New Year to reduce the sales risks for medium-sized enterprises.
Starting this month, 20 trillion won in 'guaranteed conversion guarantees' will be newly supplied for women and youth entrepreneurship holding multiple debts. From next month, a new 'fixed type refinancing loan' will be established, allowing for a two-year grace period followed by eight years of partitioning repayment. Furthermore, special loans for operational funds will be newly established for 13 industries, including travel, hotel, and tourist restaurants, with plans to swiftly implement this by the end of this month.
Measures are also being taken to assist small business owners and the youth and women facing difficulties due to prolonged economic downturns. The government will increase the startup support fund from the existing 2.5 million won to 4 million won, and to support vulnerable groups such as low-income individuals, youth, and women with disrupted careers, an additional allowance of 200,000 won will be provided monthly.
In addition, various difficulties such as tax payments and procurement subcontracting payments will be resolved swiftly. For exporting small and medium-sized enterprises and micro-enterprises, corporate taxes, value-added taxes, and tariffs will be paid out early, and the due date for corporate taxes for export-oriented corporations will be extended.
◇ Implementation of 11 trillion won in policy finance for ordinary citizens…71,000 new jobs for the elderly
The government will quickly provide 11 trillion won in policy finance starting in January. This is the largest amount ever, and it will provide an additional reduction of 1.6 percentage points on the Sunshine Loan Youth interest rate for recipients of basic livelihood security and those in the lower-income bracket.
This month, the government plans to quickly hire 790,000 individuals, of which 710,000 will be for elderly job seekers. Additionally, new hires will be made in the fields of self-sufficiency work (36,000), elderly care (35,000), and forest disaster management (9,600).
To prevent wage arrears, intensive guidance will be provided to establishments with significant or collective wage defaults, and large payments will be executed swiftly to stabilize the livelihoods of unpaid workers. Large payments refer to funds the government disburses to compensate unpaid wages on behalf of employers, with the processing period reduced from 14 days to 7 days.
The burden of living expenses for ordinary citizens regarding education, energy, culture, and communication will also be alleviated. The government plans to disburse the scholarship applications for working individuals and children earlier on the 16th of this month, ahead of the legal deadline (end of January to March). To reduce living costs, the government will expand the energy efficiency improvement project for vulnerable groups by replacing high-efficiency boilers from 225 locations to 2,350 locations. Additionally, before the Lunar New Year holiday, 200 million won will be recharged annually to the 'Cultural Nuri Card' for 2 million individuals in the basic and lower-income brackets. The Cultural Nuri Card is a card used for cultural and artistic activities, and this year it will be recharged a week earlier between the 15th and 20th of this month.
During the Lunar New Year holiday period, a free video call service will be provided to allow families living far apart to communicate without worrying about costs. In addition, the government plans to implement various policies, including early support for commuting expenses for low-income individuals with severe disabilities and initiating early repairs for outdated permanent rental facilities.
The government plans to make every effort to pass legislation for people's livelihoods. Proposals for the Labor Vulnerable Support Law, which supports freelancers and special-employment platform workers, as well as amendments to the Tax Special Cases Limitation Law that include additional income deductions, will be initiated by the end of the first quarter and will be communicated closely with the National Assembly to ensure their passage. Additionally, plans to revise enforcement decrees and regulations for the application of tariff quotas on ten kinds of fruits and a 30% reduction in the temporary automobile acquisition tax in the first half of the year will be completed within the first quarter.