Yeobo and IBK Provide 100 Billion KRW Low-Interest Loans to COVID-19 Affected Companies

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] The Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) and IBK Industrial Bank of Korea announced on the 27th that they will sign a win-win growth business agreement to support companies affected by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and create jobs.

Under this agreement, KDIC will deposit 100 billion KRW with IBK, which will use these funds to provide low-interest 'win-win growth cooperation loans.'

The loan targets are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) affected by COVID-19 or companies creating jobs. IBK will automatically reduce the loan interest rate by 0.6 percentage points for these companies and provide an additional reduction of up to 1.4 percentage points depending on transaction contribution and credit rating. The loan limit is up to 500 million KRW for COVID-19 affected companies and up to 1 billion KRW for job-creating companies.

An IBK official said, "We hope this will help SMEs unexpectedly struggling due to the spread of COVID-19 and serve as a foundation for overcoming the national crisis."

A KDIC official stated, "Going forward, KDIC and IBK plan to consider and implement various support measures that can provide practical help to SMEs facing difficulties."

Meanwhile, KDIC and IBK have jointly established funds since 2012 to reduce loan interest rates for SMEs and have continuously supported them.