Vice Minister Gi Jae: "30 Billion Won Invested in Discount Support for Agricultural, Livestock, and Fishery Products in February-March"

Amid the continued high prices of some fruits and vegetables such as apples after the Lunar New Year holiday, Kim Byung-hwan, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, expressed a firm commitment to price stabilization, stating, "We will invest about 30 billion won in discount support for agricultural, livestock, and fishery products in February and March."

On the 15th, while presiding over the "37th Emergency Economic Vice Ministers' Meeting and the 10th Price-Related Vice Ministers' Meeting" at the Government Seoul Office, Vice Minister Kim said, "Since the prices of fruits and some vegetables continue to be strong even after the Lunar New Year, the government plans to closely monitor the trends of unstable price items and further strengthen efforts to stabilize prices."

He added, "We will invest about 30 billion won in discount support for agricultural, livestock, and fishery products in February and March to continue offering discounts of up to 40-50% on unstable items such as fruits and squid," and "The fishery Onnuri gift certificate refund event will also be held monthly during the first half of the year at 68 traditional markets nationwide."

Furthermore, he stated, "We will ensure the rapid introduction of 3,000 tons of green onions and 300,000 tons of imported fruits under the tariff quota system into the market, and additionally stockpile 8,000 tons of napa cabbage and radish to proactively prepare for supply and demand instability in March and April."

He also hinted at managing service prices. Vice Minister Kim emphasized, "We will continue to monitor service prices, which often undergo adjustments at the beginning of the year, through the Price-Related Vice Ministers' Meeting."

He evaluated that prices during last Lunar New Year were maintained at a lower level compared to the same period last year, thanks to government efforts. He explained, "According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), the average price of 16 essential items was 3.2% lower than the same period last year (three weeks before Lunar New Year). Due to poor crop yields last year, prices of apples and pears were high, but we tried to minimize the perceived prices by expanding stockpiles and increasing government discount support rates."

The government also reviewed the major implementation status of the '2024 Economic Policy Direction' announced last month. Vice Minister Kim said, "The special electricity bill support of 200,000 won to reduce the burden on small business owners will begin accepting applications on the 21st and is scheduled to be provided from early March," and "The revision of the enforcement decree to raise the simplified VAT taxpayer threshold is planned to be completed by the end of this month." Recently, the government raised the simplified VAT taxpayer threshold from an annual sales of 80 million won to 104 million won.