Pohang City Achieves 'Best' in Ministry of the Interior and Safety's Local Price Stability Management Performance Evaluation

Stabilizing Public Utility Charges with Rate Freeze, Holding a Pan-Citizen Countermeasure Meeting to Build Local Consensus

Hosting the Korea Together Festival, Providing Customized Support Such as Special Guarantees and Interest Subsidies for Small

Pohang City was selected as the ‘Best’ institution in the ‘First Half Local Price Stability Management Performance Evaluation’ conducted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety among 243 local governments nationwide this year, and will receive a special grant of 150 million KRW as a financial incentive.

Lee Sang-hyun, Director of Economic and Labor Affairs, and staff celebrating Pohang City's selection as the best institution.

This evaluation was conducted through a comprehensive assessment including quantitative and qualitative evaluations of policy projects for local price stability such as ▲stabilization management of local public utility charges ▲support for Good Price Businesses ▲stabilization of personal service fees.

This year, Pohang City received high marks for its proactive policies aimed at creating a price stabilization atmosphere, recovering the domestic economy, and promoting consumption to support local small business owners in overcoming the prolonged economic crisis caused by typhoon damage, high interest rates, high prices, and high exchange rates.

First, to stabilize public utility charges directly related to citizens’ lives, water supply fees, bus fares, and garbage bag fees were frozen, and the planned increase in sewage fees for the second half of the year was also decided to be frozen this year.

In addition, to alleviate the increasing burden of public utility charges, reductions in water and sewage fees were provided to vulnerable groups, exemplary food hygiene businesses, Good Price Businesses, and small and medium enterprises and small business owners.

Along with this, a preemptive citywide countermeasure meeting was held at the beginning of the year to build consensus with private and related organizations, focusing all efforts on spreading a citywide participation atmosphere. Various customized support projects such as special guarantees and interest subsidies were promoted to help small business owners struggling with rising raw material costs.

In May, a large-scale promotional event, the ‘Korea Together Festival,’ linked with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, was held to support sales channels and create a consumption promotion atmosphere for small business owners, drawing enthusiastic responses from local small business owners.

Pohang City plans to actively promote various policies for price stabilization and revitalization of the people’s economy in the second half of the year as well.

The city plans to promote small business support projects such as special guarantees for small business owners, card fee support, employment insurance fee support, and excellent product on-tact business support to create an environment where about 80,000 small business owners in the region can operate stably and to revitalize the domestic economy.

Along with this, the city will focus on the stable management of personal service fees, which have a high citizen perception. The number of Good Price Businesses, currently at 151 locations, will be significantly expanded with a goal of designating 200 locations, continuously discovering new ones, and inducing voluntary price reductions through strengthened incentive support and focused publicity.

Also, in preparation for the summer vacation season, the city has established price stabilization measures for vacation spots and formed a price stabilization inspection team to continuously monitor prices, check price display systems, and conduct price stabilization campaigns to maintain efforts for price stability.

Mayor Lee Kang-deok said, “We will continue to focus administrative power in the second half of the year to discover various policies for local price stabilization and restore vitality to small business owners, the foundation of the people’s economy, through the recovery of neighborhood commercial districts.”