Sejong Credit Guarantee Foundation to Provide '50 Billion KRW' in Small Business Guarantee Support This Year

[Asia Economy (Sejong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Sejong Credit Guarantee Foundation (hereinafter referred to as the Foundation) will begin new guarantee services starting from the 3rd of next month. The scale of small business funds to be handled this year is 50 billion KRW, with 12.5 billion KRW supported each quarter.

According to Sejong City on the 25th, the Foundation was launched in December last year to facilitate smooth management fund support for small business owners in the Sejong area.

The small business funds handled by the Foundation will be operated in a way that the city supports the interest, and the Foundation issues guarantee certificates to help small business owners obtain management funds loans from banks.

This year, the city will support small business funds amounting to 56.6 billion KRW, which is 20.4 billion KRW more than the previous year (6.6 billion KRW of which has already been guaranteed), to overcome COVID-19 damages and stabilize small business management.

When the condition is a 2-year grace period with lump-sum repayment, the city bears 1.7%p of the interest from the financial institution loan rate; when the condition is a 1-year grace period with 2-year equal installments repayment, the city bears 1.45%p of the interest.

In particular, this year, the support range is expanded from a maximum of 30 million KRW to a maximum of 50 million KRW per company to assist small business owners struggling with fund shortages due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, the city explained that the funding support method will be improved by lifting the re-support suspension condition for those who have passed less than one year after completing loan repayment.

The city expects that once the Sejong Credit Guarantee Foundation starts guarantee services, the inconvenience of local small business owners who had to travel to the Chungnam Credit Guarantee Foundation Gongju and Cheonan branches to receive past funding support will be resolved.

For more detailed information regarding small business fund support, inquiries can be made through the City Enterprise Support Division or the Guarantee Business Department of the Sejong Credit Guarantee Foundation.

Yang Won-chang, Director of the City Economic and Industrial Bureau, said, “We hope that the small business funds will help small business owners recover their daily lives and business activities during these difficult times caused by COVID-19,” and added, “The city will continue to monitor funding demand and strive to provide timely support.”