[2024 Economic Policy] Choi Sang-mok "Inflation Stabilizes at 2% Range in First Half... 20% Income Deduction for Increased Consumption"

Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Strategy and Finance, announced that to realize a "vibrant livelihood economy" next year, the goal is to stabilize inflation in the 2% range in the first half of the year and to promote an additional 20% income deduction on the increased use of credit cards.

On the 4th, Deputy Prime Minister Choi held a joint briefing with related departments at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, and announced the 2024 economic policy direction focusing on ▲livelihood economy recovery ▲potential risk management ▲dynamic economy realization ▲accompanying future generations.

Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Strategy and Finance, is delivering opening remarks at the joint briefing on the 2024 Economic Policy Direction held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 4th. The briefing was attended by Park Sang-woo, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; Kim Ju-hyun, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission; Oh Young-joo, Minister of SMEs and Startups; and Jung Byung-guk, 1st Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

First, to recover the livelihood economy, he emphasized the early stabilization of inflation in the 2% range in the first half of the year. He said, "We will support a budget of 11 trillion won to stabilize prices and supply of agricultural, marine, and energy products, and promote tariff exemptions and reductions for the rapid import of 300,000 tons of fruit, 60,000 tons of vegetables and livestock products." He added, "For small business owners and self-employed individuals, we will implement the 'Three Major Support Packages for Small Business Owners' to reduce burdens such as electricity bills, interest costs, and value-added tax."

He also stated, "To protect tenants of multi-family and multi-unit houses with high reverse lease risks, acquisition tax will be temporarily reduced for one year when purchasing a residence, and the qualification for non-homeowners will be maintained." He emphasized, "To accelerate domestic demand recovery in the first half, we will support a 20% additional income deduction for increased consumption."

Deputy Prime Minister Choi said, "To recover exports and investment, we will supply a record-high 355 trillion won in trade finance, extend the temporary investment tax credit for facility investment by one year, and temporarily increase the tax credit rate for R&D (research and development) investment by 10 percentage points this year." He added, "For non-metropolitan areas, we will temporarily reduce development charges by 100% and school site charges by 50%." He also mentioned that as part of regional economic revitalization, a 'Three-Project Revival Plan for Population Declining Areas' will be promoted, including housing purchase incentives, tourism activation, and foreigner inflow promotion.

Regarding financial issues such as real estate project financing (PF), he said, "We will induce an orderly soft landing through market stabilization measures and customized normalization and restructuring support for each project site, and also seek fundamental institutional improvement plans." He added, "We will maintain the household debt growth rate within the nominal growth rate and manage the household debt ratio relative to GDP stably."

Furthermore, to realize a dynamic economy, he said, "We will improve the three major location regulations including green belts, farmland, and mountainous areas, and improve entry barriers that restrict competition in major industries such as alcoholic beverages." For accompanying future generations, he stated, "We will steadfastly pursue the legislation of fiscal rules and pension reform, and prepare a 'Future Generation Vision and Mid-to-Long-Term Strategy' to address challenges such as population and climate."

Deputy Prime Minister Choi said, "The government will do its utmost to spread the warmth of economic recovery to every corner and enhance the dynamism of our economy to create a 'vibrant livelihood economy.'" He added, "We will promptly implement the detailed tasks of the economic policy direction announced today to create changes that the public can feel."