Vice Minister of Economy and Finance: "Emergency Welfare Support System, a Lifesaving Mattress... Expanding Additional Support"

Strengthening Export Support... Non-face-to-face Marketing and Export Finance Supply
Preventing Global Spread of Pathogens through 'Policy Response'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Kim Yong-beom, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, announced on the 5th that "due to the cumulative damage caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the temporary relaxation period for the eligibility criteria of the Emergency Welfare Support System will be extended until the end of this year, and the support scale will be further expanded."

On the same day, Vice Minister Kim held the 'Innovation Growth Strategy Review Meeting and Policy Review Meeting' at the government Seoul office and stated, "At a time like this, the Emergency Welfare Support System plays a role like a life mattress that prevents low-income households from falling into poverty."

Since the expansion of emergency welfare support in March, the average daily expenditure has increased by 62.4% compared to before the system improvement.

Regarding support for venture companies, he said, "The government has increased the startup foundation support fund by 500 billion won and newly introduced a COVID-19 special guarantee for startups and venture companies worth 400 billion won through the Korea Technology Finance Corporation," adding, "We will also establish a 1 trillion won Smart Korea Fund to invest in future promising fields such as digital, bio, and green new deal."

Vice Minister Kim emphasized strengthening export support. He added, "We will promote export recovery by establishing a one-stop support system for non-face-to-face marketing and supplying export finance of 118 trillion won, an increase of about 5 trillion won compared to last year."

Finally, Vice Minister Kim said, "The pathogen itself may be an unavoidable choice, but the spread of the pathogen as a global epidemic can be prevented by policy response choices." He added, "We will do our best to provide prompt support and conduct thorough inspections without leakage so that the current choices become a breakthrough in the crisis."