Small Business Debt Consolidation Loans and Policy Fund Repayment Extensions Open for Applications Starting This Week

Government, Economic Relations Ministers' Meeting
Review of Comprehensive Measures Implementation for Small Business Owners and Self-Employed

The government will begin accepting applications this week for low-interest refinancing loans that extend the repayment period of policy funds for small business owners and relax support requirements.

On the 7th, the government announced the "Comprehensive Measures for Small Business Owners and Self-Employed: Implementation Status and Future Plans" at the Economic Ministers' Meeting. This is a follow-up announcement to the comprehensive measures jointly issued by related ministries in last month's second half economic policy direction and Dynamic Economy Roadmap.

First, regarding the "three financial support measures," following the establishment of the regional credit guarantee foundation conversion guarantee on the 31st of last month, refinancing loans and extensions of policy fund repayment will be expanded this month. The requirements for refinancing high-interest loans of 7% or more from banks and non-bank sectors into low-interest loans will be significantly relaxed, with applications announced starting from the 9th. The support targets and periods for the policy fund repayment extension system for small business owners facing management difficulties will be expanded, with applications opening from the 16th.

Until now, to receive an extension on policy fund repayment, conditions such as a business operation period of over 3 years and a loan balance of over 30 million KRW had to be met. However, these criteria will be abolished, and the extension period will be expanded up to a maximum of 5 years. Also, the policy fund base interest rate, which had previously increased by 0.6 percentage points upon extension, will be lowered to 0.2 percentage points.

Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy and Finance, is attending and speaking at the Economic Ministers' Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 26th. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

To alleviate the fixed cost burden of business operations, the scope of electricity fee support has been expanded, and applications have been accepted since the 8th. The government explained, "Additional support will be provided to small business owners with annual sales of 60 million KRW or less among existing applicants, offering up to 200,000 KRW."

Delivery platform operators, the food service industry, and the government jointly launched a win-win consultative body on the 23rd of last month and plan to prepare win-win measures by October to proceed with delivery fee support for small-scale small business owners as scheduled. In addition, applications for new foreign worker employment permits will be accepted from the 5th to the 16th for restaurants (Chinese, Japanese, Western cuisine) where the scope of foreign employment permits has been expanded, and approvals will be pursued. The expansion of Onnuri gift certificate usage locations will be implemented next month, and from January next year, the commission rate for card-type Onnuri gift certificates paid by credit card will be reduced to the level of debit cards.

To support small business owners who have closed due to management difficulties in making a fresh start, the Fresh Start Fund expansion and employment and re-startup linkage support will be implemented next month. Detailed plans related to small business owner specialized employment programs will be prepared in the second half of the year and newly established in January next year, and participation allowances for specialized programs such as employment training participation allowances and training participation allowances will be increased.

A one-stop platform that provides comprehensive guidance on the targets and qualification conditions of this comprehensive measure and allows access to necessary services is scheduled to be implemented from January next year. Integrated guidance through Small Business Support Centers (77 nationwide) began on the 29th of last month, and guidance through the Small and Medium Business Integrated Call Center (1357) will start from today.