[Naju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yuk-bong] Naju City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Yoon Byung-tae) announced on the 29th that from next month 1st, it will implement a 10% discount sale on the local currency ‘Naju Sarang Gift Certificate’ until the end of this year.
The city secured a budget of 4 billion KRW in the second supplementary budget of this year, which is also the first supplementary budget of the 8th elected administration, increasing the discount sales limit of the gift certificates from the original 64.6 billion KRW to 85.7 billion KRW.
Accordingly, the 10% discount on gift certificates will be extended continuously from next month 1st until the end of this year.
The city expects this to be a timely relief for traditional market and alleyway merchants, who were worried about soaring prices and shrinking consumer sentiment ahead of Chuseok.
Previously, from January to May, the city applied a 10% discount on gift certificate sales amounting to 47.7 billion KRW, and considering fiscal conditions and the upcoming Chuseok holiday, the discount rate was lowered to 5% from June to the end of this month.
Although the plan was to resume the 10% discount from next month 1st to mid-October, due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation and the impact of rising prices, the city decided to extend the 10% discount until the end of this year to revitalize the depressed commercial consumer market.
The Naju Sarang Gift Certificate is issued as paper and card gift certificates, with a monthly purchase and recharge limit of 500,000 KRW per individual. Paper gift certificates can be obtained at 57 financial institutions including Nonghyup, Livestock Cooperatives, and Wonhyup, while card gift certificates can be issued at Nonghyup and post offices.
From next month 7th, card issuance will also be available at Gwangju Bank and Saemaeul Geumgo within the jurisdiction. Card amount recharges can be made through the local gift certificate dedicated app ‘chak’.
The city will strengthen inspections and crackdowns on cases preventing illegal distribution due to the expanded scale of 10% discount sales.
The Illegal Distribution Reporting Center (Job Economy Division) will accept resident reports and continuously monitor suspicious transactions through the integrated management system to inspect suspected illegal distribution merchants.
When illegal activities are detected, measures such as cancellation of merchant registration, recovery of illegally obtained amounts, and fines up to 20 million KRW according to related laws will be imposed.
Mayor Yoon Byung-tae said, “Through the 10% discount incentive on gift certificates until the end of this year, we hope to add vitality to the traditional markets and commercial consumer markets, which have been depressed due to COVID-19 and high prices ahead of Chuseok,” and added, “We ask for active use of the Naju Sarang Gift Certificate, which is a practice of good consumption to revitalize the local commercial district.”
Naju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yuk-bong baekok@asiae.co.kr
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