Ministry of SMEs and Startups Raises Loan Limit to 20 Million Won for Small Business Tenants in Restricted Sectors

[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced that starting from the 2nd, the support limit for the 'Rental Fee Loan for Businesses Subject to Gathering Restrictions' will be increased from 10 million KRW to 20 million KRW.

With this increase, small business owners who have received rental fee loans for gathering-restricted businesses from the Small Enterprise and Market Service or rental fee loans for businesses with operational restrictions from commercial banks can receive an additional loan of up to 10 million KRW. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will supply a total of 800 billion KRW at a fixed interest rate of 1.9%, regardless of credit rating, to small business owners in gathering-restricted businesses who have received the Buffer Fund Plus.

The rental fee loan for gathering-restricted businesses will be conducted through direct loans by the Small Enterprise and Market Service. The loan period is five years. However, those with tax arrears, financial institution delinquencies, businesses that are temporarily closed or shut down, or those who are not small business tenants are excluded from support.

Applications can be submitted from 9 a.m. on the 2nd via the Small Business Policy Fund website. To distribute access, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups will implement a five-day rotation system based on the last digit of the representative’s resident registration number birth year from the 2nd to the 6th. From the 7th of this month, applications can be submitted regardless of the birth year’s last digit.

During the five-day rotation period, application hours are from 9 a.m. to midnight daily. From the 7th, after the rotation system ends, applications will be accepted 24 hours a day starting at 9 a.m.

Individual business owners can complete the application by verifying their identity via mobile phone and attaching the lease contract. Corporate business owners must additionally attach the full certificate of corporate registration and the corporate seal certificate along with the lease contract.

For individual business owners, the loan application, review, and contract signing are all conducted online. Corporate business owners must visit the regional center in person to sign the written contract after receiving loan approval notification following an online application.

Lee Eun-cheong, Director of the Small Business Policy Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "It is fortunate that we can provide stronger support to small business tenants in gathering-restricted industries who have suffered direct damage such as business suspension due to recently strengthened quarantine measures," adding, "We will ensure that support can be quickly received within 3 to 5 days after application through electronic contracts and other means."