[Weekly Outlook] Focus on Small Business Loss Compensation Scale... Yoon Administration's First Supplementary Budget Expected Around 35 Trillion Won

Transition Team to Finalize Loss Compensation Scale Around 35 Trillion Won on 25th
Loss Compensation Adjustment Rate Raised from 90% to 100%... Financial and Tax Support Also Included
Bank of Korea to Announce Q1 GDP Preliminary on 26th... Focus on Omicron Impact

Offline Applications for Q4 2021 Small Business Loss Compensation Begin
(Seoul=Yonhap News) Reporter Ryu Young-seok = On the afternoon of the 10th, small business owners who suffered losses due to COVID-19 quarantine measures visited the dedicated loss compensation counter at Dongjak District Office in Seoul to receive consultations as offline applications for Q4 2021 loss compensation began. 2022.3.10
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[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Lee Jun-hyung] Next week, the Presidential Transition Committee will finalize the scale of loss compensation for small business owners. The first supplementary budget (supplementary budget) of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration is also expected to take shape. The supplementary budget size is likely to be around 35 trillion won.

According to related ministries on the 24th, the transition committee will finalize the small business loss compensation package support plan on the 25th. Earlier, on the 21st, the committee announced that it was close to concluding the specific scale of loss compensation for small business owners, as well as the payment targets and methods. Through the package support plan, the committee intends to raise the loss compensation adjustment rate from the existing 90% to 100%. President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol had pledged to raise the loss compensation adjustment rate to 100%.

Transition Committee, COVID-19 Special Committee Loss Compensation Plan
(Seoul=Yonhap News) Hong Kyung-hee, Deputy Spokesperson of the Presidential Transition Committee, is briefing on current issues related to the 'COVID-19 Emergency Response Special Committee Loss Compensation Plan' at the Transition Committee press conference hall in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 21st. 2022.4.21 [Photo by Transition Committee Press Photographers]
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Review of 'Emergency Financial Rescue Plan for Small Business Owners'

The loss compensation package will also include financial and tax support measures for small business owners. The 'Emergency Financial Rescue Plan for Small Business Owners' under review by the transition committee is a representative example. The main goal is to reduce the interest burden on small business owners and extend repayment schedules to reduce excessive debt.

The committee is also considering supporting refinancing through banks and interest rate differential subsidies to ease the interest burden on small business owners who have taken loans from non-bank sectors. Hong Kyung-hee, deputy spokesperson of the transition committee, stated in a recent briefing, "We are reviewing various financial support measures such as debt adjustment to alleviate the excessive debt burden of small business owners with low repayment capacity."

The first supplementary budget of the next government will be finalized along with the small business package support plan. Analysts suggest that the supplementary budget size is likely to be around 35 trillion won, about 15 trillion won less than the 50 trillion won pledged by President-elect Yoon. The transition committee is expected to provide 6 million won each to 3.2 to 3.3 million small business owners affected by COVID-19.

The consumer price inflation rate in March soared to the 4% range for the first time in about 10 years. On the 5th, a citizen shopping at a large supermarket in downtown Seoul is seen doing their grocery shopping. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

Announcement of This Month's Corporate and Consumer Sentiment Indices

The Bank of Korea will release the preliminary figure for 'Q1 Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP)' on the 26th. Previously, the quarterly GDP growth rate showed an upward trend for six consecutive quarters from Q3 2020 to Q4 last year.

Additionally, the Bank of Korea will announce the 'April Consumer Sentiment Survey' and the 'April Business Survey Index (BSI)' on the 27th and 28th of this month, respectively. Attention is focused on the impact of recent consumer price inflation and the government's lifting of social distancing measures on the sentiment of businesses and consumers. Last month, the Consumer Confidence Index (CCSI) rose by 0.1 points from the previous month to 103.2. On the other hand, the BSI for business conditions across all industries decreased by 2 points from 85 to 83 during the same period.

The Statistics Korea will release the 'March Industrial Activity Trends' on the 29th. Total industrial production has declined for two consecutive months since January this year. This is the first time in 21 months since May 2020 that total industrial production has shown a two-month consecutive decline.