Hana Bank Provides 230 Billion KRW in Financial Support for Small and Medium Enterprises

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] Hana Bank announced on the 26th that it will provide financial support worth 230 billion KRW to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Hana Bank plans to operate the "Hana-Connected SME Win-Win Support Program" in the first quarter of this year to assist SME borrowers struggling due to high interest rates and economic slowdown.

This program focuses on supporting high-interest borrowers, borrowers choosing fixed interest rates, and vulnerable borrowers.

First, for high-interest borrowers, if the calculated interest rate exceeds 7% when SMEs extend their loan maturity, the bank will reduce the rate by up to 2 percentage points. Hana Bank will support interest rate reductions worth 43 billion KRW for approximately 6,400 SMEs.

For SMEs choosing fixed interest rates, a 2 percentage point interest rate reduction has been implemented since the 2nd of this month. Support will continue within a limit of 3 trillion KRW during the first half of this year, with plans to expand the limit further in the second half.

Additionally, Hana Bank will offer the "Safe Fixed Interest Special Loan" during the first quarter with a limit of 1 trillion KRW. This loan reduces the initially applied base interest rate by up to 1 percentage point within the range of the base rate for variable interest products and allows switching between variable and fixed interest rates every six months depending on market conditions. The bank expects about 4,000 SMEs to benefit from interest rate reductions totaling approximately 70 billion KRW through this program.

Moreover, to support the recovery of vulnerable SMEs facing temporary delinquencies, the "delinquency penalty interest rate" applied during loan delinquency will be temporarily reduced until the end of this year. The delinquency interest rate will be lowered by 3 percentage points until the end of this year.

Hana Bank plans to actively support interest rate reductions worth 13 billion KRW and early repayment fee reductions for about 6,200 vulnerable SMEs.

Hana Bank will also expand theme-based customized loan products, with a support scale of 105 billion KRW.

Lee Seung-yeol, CEO of Hana Bank, said, "Through this financial support program, we will alleviate the financial burden of SMEs and provide opportunities for their recovery to achieve mutual growth with SMEs. We will actively pursue the group's mission of finance that grows together and shares happiness, fulfilling the social role of finance."