Hong Nam-ki and Lee Ju-yeol Reunite After One Year... "Early March Decision on 'Corona Loan' Maturity Extension and Interest Repayment Deferral" (Comprehensive)

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, and Lee Ju-yeol, Governor of the Bank of Korea, are shaking hands in different ways at the "Macroeconomic Financial Meeting" held on the 18th at the Bankers' Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul. Meeting for the first time in a year, Deputy Prime Minister Hong and Governor Lee discussed fiscal and financial measures related to COVID-19. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, announced on the 18th, "We will decide on the level of maturity extension and interest repayment deferral for all financial sectors by early March."

Deputy Prime Minister Hong made this remark during his opening speech while presiding over the 'Macroeconomic Financial Meeting' (Macroeconomic Finance Meeting) at the Seoul Banking Hall on the same day.

He conveyed the message that since the crisis is not yet over, with growing concerns about the fourth wave of COVID-19, the expansionary fiscal stance and immediate financial support should not be withheld.

Hong said, "Although the domestic COVID-19 situation has passed the wave of the third spread, a clear calming trend has not yet appeared, and damages are still ongoing, so it is necessary to maintain an expansionary fiscal and financial policy stance. We plan to execute the budget as early as possible, prepare a supplementary budget to support the affected groups, and sufficiently supply policy finance on the scale of 495 trillion won."

He emphasized, "It is important to manage potential risk factors such as accumulated liquidity issues during the crisis response process, the real estate market, household debt, price stability, and increased financial volatility so that they do not materialize. In particular, measures need to be devised to induce market liquidity to flow into productive sectors such as the Korean New Deal and new growth engines, rather than unproductive sectors like real estate, and to prepare advanced household debt management plans within the first quarter."

The meeting was attended by Lee Ju-yeol, Governor of the Bank of Korea; Eun Sung-soo, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission; and Yoon Seok-heon, Chairman of the Financial Supervisory Service. Kim Yong-beom, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, usually presides over the Macroeconomic Finance Meeting, but Deputy Prime Minister Hong presided over the meeting directly for the first time in 11 months since March 13 last year.