Martial Arts and Trade Promotion Fund Regular Loans Interest Rate Reduced by up to 0.75%p

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] The Korea International Trade Association announced on the 20th that it will lower the loan interest rates for trade promotion funds by up to 0.75 percentage points starting July 1.

This decision was made to support the financing of Korean small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) whose export costs, such as overseas marketing and raw material procurement, have increased due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Accordingly, the loan interest rate, which was previously uniformly 2.75%, will be reduced according to member company grades: Silver grade to 2.5%, Gold to 2.25%, and Royal to 2.0%. The cost-saving effect per company is expected to average 4.5 million KRW. The loan application criteria have also been relaxed from export performance of up to 10 million USD in the previous year to up to 20 million USD, allowing more companies to benefit.

The regular trade promotion fund loan allows up to 300 million KRW per company, with a loan period of three years in total (two years grace period, one year installment repayment).

The revised interest rates and application criteria will apply from the regular loan applications submitted on July 1, and detailed information can be found on the Trade Association’s website.