[14 Trillion Snowflake Supplementary Budget] 3.2 Million Small Business Owners and Small Enterprises to Receive 3 Million Won Each... Eased Criteria for Loss Compensation Eligibility

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Strategy and Finance. / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The supplementary budget announced by the government is essentially a 'one-point supplementary budget' aimed at supporting small business owners. Out of the total budget of 14 trillion won, the government decided to allocate a record-high 9.6 trillion won for small business support, including expanding the quarantine support fund to 3 million won per business.

The government announced that it approved a supplementary budget worth 14 trillion won for supporting small business owners and others at the Cabinet meeting on the 21st. Of the 14 trillion won, 11.5 trillion won will be used for small business support. Specifically, 9.6 trillion won will be allocated for quarantine support funds, and 1.9 trillion won will be used to supplement the amount needed for small business loss compensation. Additionally, 1.5 trillion won is allocated for strengthening quarantine measures, and 1 trillion won for contingency funds.

The key point is that 3 million won each will be provided to 3.2 million small businesses and small enterprises, totaling 9.6 trillion won. Previously, only 1 million won was paid to loss compensation sectors affected by gathering bans and business hour restrictions, but this time, the support will be expanded to include travel and accommodation industries, with 3 million won each.

Eligible businesses are those small businesses and small enterprises that opened before December 15, last year, and whose sales during the same period last year decreased compared to November and December of 2019 and 2020. Text messages will be sent to eligible businesses, and online applications will be accepted next month.

Through this supplementary budget, the government announced that small business owners who suffered damage from COVID-19 will receive up to 35.5 million won in cash support per person, separate from loss compensation. This includes 1.5 million won from the first emergency employment stabilization fund in 2020, 2 million won from the New Hope Fund, 3 million won from the Support Fund, 5 million won from last year's Support Plus Fund, 20 million won from the Hope Recovery Fund, 1 million won from the first quarantine support fund, and the current 3 million won support, totaling 35.5 million won.

1.9 trillion won will be invested to supplement the amount needed for small business loss compensation. The principle is to provide customized compensation proportional to the damage scale to small business owners and small enterprises who suffered serious business losses due to quarantine measures.

Financial programs with a 5 million won limit will also be reinforced to proceed without disruption. This method applies an ultra-low interest rate of 1.0% to the unsettled amount remaining after deducting loss compensation from the 5 million won loan. It will be implemented for about 900,000 small businesses and small enterprises that experienced sales declines due to gathering bans, business hour restrictions, and personnel/facility usage restrictions after October 1 last year. The minimum support amount has been raised from 100,000 won to 500,000 won. A Ministry of Economy and Finance official explained, "The total number of loss compensation cases is 900,000, of which 550,000 are eligible for the 5 million won advance payment."

Furthermore, the Ministry of Economy and Finance stated that financial and sales recovery budgets for small business owners, including about 35 trillion won in financial support for small businesses and 18.5 trillion won in national treasury support for regional and Onnuri gift certificates included in this year's main budget of 607.7 trillion won, will be intensively executed within the first quarter.

The 1.5 trillion won allocated for strengthening quarantine measures will be used for securing hospital beds and purchasing therapeutics. 400 billion won will be invested to increase the number of COVID-19 severe patient beds from the current 14,000 to 25,000 in response to the spread of the Omicron variant.

6 trillion won will be invested for additional purchase of therapeutics. 392 billion won will be used to secure an additional 400,000 doses of oral therapeutics. Combined with the existing 604,000 doses, the total will increase to 1,004,000 doses. For additional purchase of injectable therapeutics capable of treating mild to moderate symptoms, 226.8 billion won will be invested to secure an additional 100,000 doses, bringing the total to 160,000 doses.

The remaining 500 billion won will be used for living support expenses and paid leave support. Living support expenses of 905,000 won for 10 days will be provided to home treatment patients based on a four-person household. Paid leave support will provide up to 130,000 won per day.

Additionally, 1 trillion won in contingency funds will be secured to prepare for unexpected expenses such as quarantine expenditures in response to the spread of the Omicron variant.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that the supplementary budget approved at the Cabinet meeting today will be submitted to the National Assembly on the 24th. The Ministry said, "Considering the urgency of supporting small business owners and strengthening quarantine measures, we will consult with the National Assembly to ensure the supplementary budget is approved as quickly as possible."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.