Vice Minister of Economy: "Extension of Tax Payment for Disaster Victims... Prompt Support for Disaster Response and Recovery Funds"

5th Emergency Economic Deputy Minister Meeting

Bang Gi-seon, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, is speaking at an emergency economic vice ministers' meeting held at the Government Seoul Office Building on the 12th. (Photo by Ministry of Economy and Finance)

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Son Seonhee] Bang Gi-seon, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said on the 12th regarding the recent heavy rains, "We will provide temporary housing facilities to disaster victims by utilizing community centers and public rental housing, and also promote various support measures for the livelihood stabilization of affected residents, such as extending deadlines for income tax, VAT, and corporate tax payments, exemptions from national pension payments, and deferral or extension of loan principal and interest repayments."

He added, "As soon as the flood recovery plan is finalized, we will promptly support recovery costs by utilizing available resources such as disaster response funds, reallocation of existing budgets, and contingency funds." The government plans to declare the heavy rain-affected areas as 'special disaster zones.'

On the same day, Vice Minister Bang chaired the 5th Emergency Economic Vice Ministers' Meeting at the Government Seoul Office and stated, "I sincerely offer my condolences to those who tragically lost their lives due to the flood and to those who lost their livelihoods."

Concerns are rising that the supply disruption of agricultural and livestock products caused by the heavy rains that struck the central region could further destabilize prices, which have already been soaring. According to the government, damage has occurred so far, including 879 hectares of submerged crops and fallen fruit, and the death of 86,552 livestock. Additionally, there are concerns about the outbreak of diseases due to high temperatures following the rainfall.

Regarding this, Vice Minister Bang said, "While focusing on inspecting and emergency recovery of vulnerable facilities such as greenhouses, orchards, and livestock farms, we will operate a joint crop management team with related agencies focusing on cabbage, radish, potato, apple, and pear, which are major crops in the central region, to proactively respond with pest control, discounted pesticide support, and immediate supply of reserve seedlings."

Amid the government's announcement yesterday of the 'Chuseok Livelihood Stabilization Measures,' which centers on supplying a record 230,000 tons of essential goods, an agricultural, livestock, and fishery product discount coupon event will begin on the 15th as part of this effort. The government has invested 65 billion won, 1.8 times more than last year, and expanded the per-person usage limit to 20,000 to 30,000 won. Vice Minister Bang said, "We will carefully prepare with the industry to ensure the event proceeds smoothly and to alleviate the burden of grocery prices for the public even a little."

With the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and rising interest rates, small business owners are particularly struggling due to decreased sales and increased debt. Vice Minister Bang said, "We will promptly complete the support for loss compensation funds prepared through the second supplementary budget and execute loss compensation as much as possible within this year. We will also do our best to ease debt burdens by converting high-interest loans to low-interest loans."

In this regard, related ministries including the Ministry of SMEs and Startups will soon announce policy tasks related to small business owners.