Net Increase Accounts for 73.5% of Total Banking Sector
Record-High SME Loan Balance and Market Share Achieved Last Year
IBK Industrial Bank of Korea is actively leading support for SME loans this year to help small and medium-sized enterprises overcome crises amid the prolonged 3 highs (high interest rates, high inflation, and high exchange rates) phenomenon and worsening business conditions for SMEs.
As of February this year, IBK Industrial Bank of Korea announced on the 17th that it recorded a net increase of 3.6 trillion KRW in SME loans, accounting for 73.5% of the total net increase of 4.9 trillion KRW across the banking sector.
The net increase in SME loans by IBK Industrial Bank of Korea was 2.2 trillion KRW, 2.6 times higher than the same period last year (1.4 trillion KRW). This is significant given that the total net increase across the banking sector decreased compared to last year.
Having achieved record-high SME loan balances and market share last year, IBK Industrial Bank of Korea set its SME loan supply target at 64 trillion KRW, an increase of 4 trillion KRW from the previous year. The bank plans to strengthen support for SMEs facing all-around crisis situations this year as well.
In particular, the bank has set sector-specific supply targets, including support for material, parts, and equipment industry companies (22 trillion KRW), startup companies (20 trillion KRW), and companies engaged in innovative growth (15 trillion KRW), actively promoting support for key sectors with high policy-driven funding demand.
Additionally, IBK Industrial Bank of Korea will significantly strengthen loan soundness management. By monitoring the economic situation in real time, the bank plans to identify vulnerable areas to exchange rate risks and sector-specific soundness weaknesses, and through special inspections, prepare customized support plans tailored to each company's situation.
Kim Sung-tae, the bank president, stated, "We are putting more thought and effort than last year to help SMEs overcome economic crises," adding, "We will do our best to fulfill our role as a policy financial institution by discovering additional areas requiring financial support and strengthening financial assistance."
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