Party, Government, and Blue House to Provide 90 Trillion Won in 설 Holiday Funds to SMEs and Small Business Owners... 7 Trillion Won Increase from Previous Year

On the 6th, the "2020 Lunar New Year Livelihood Stabilization High-Level Party-Government-Cheong Wa Dae Council" was held at the National Assembly. Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy (from the left), Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon, Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, and floor leader Lee In-young attended the meeting. Kim Sang-jo, Chief of the Presidential Policy Office, and Lee Ho-seung, Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs, posed before the start of the meeting. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Wondara and Jeon Jinyoung] The ruling party, government, and Blue House have decided to execute a 90 trillion won scale support fund for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners as a Lunar New Year livelihood measure, expanding it by 7 trillion won from last year's 83 trillion won.

Hong Ik-pyo, senior spokesperson of the Democratic Party, stated at a briefing after the first high-level ruling party-government-Blue House meeting of the new year held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 6th, "We focused on supporting a strong start for ordinary citizens and discussed livelihood stabilization measures."

On this day, the ruling party, government, and Blue House agreed to execute a support fund for SMEs and small business owners related to the Lunar New Year, expanded by about 7 trillion won from last year's 83 trillion won to 90 trillion won. Through this, they plan to support new fund provision, maturity extension, and settlement of unpaid wages.

During the Lunar New Year holiday, support for marginalized groups such as children suffering from hunger, homeless people, the disabled, and elderly living alone will be strengthened, and about 120 billion won in earned income tax credits and child tax credits will be paid before the Lunar New Year. The supply of 16 key seasonal products will be increased fourfold, and direct transaction market discount sales will also be conducted.

This year, to reduce the educational expenses burden on students and parents, the student loan interest rate will be lowered by 0.2 percentage points from 2.2% to 2.0%, and national support scholarships will be expanded to about 57.9 billion won. Direct job creation projects supported by the budget will also be implemented as early as possible. The target number of job project beneficiaries this year is about 945,000 people.

Spokesperson Hong said, "The passage of related laws is urgent to execute welfare budgets for low-income and vulnerable groups," adding, "The prompt passage of amendments to the Basic Pension Act, Disability Pension Act, and National Pension Act in the National Assembly is necessary." He further urged, "I once again ask the opposition party for cooperation so that innocent vulnerable groups do not suffer due to political strife."

The ruling party, government, and Blue House also decided to make every effort to expedite budget execution in the first half of this year. Spokesperson Hong said, "We will closely consult to achieve the first half budget early execution target set at 71% (305 trillion won), which is 1 percentage point higher than the previous year," adding, "We focused on thoroughly reviewing the project promotion plans for early execution." This first half allocation ratio is the highest in seven years since 2013 (71.6%). The budget for projects related to the 'Minsik Law' will also be concentrated in the first quarter.

The Lunar New Year livelihood stabilization measures agreed upon by the ruling party, government, and Blue House on this day are scheduled to be finalized and announced at the Cabinet meeting on the morning of the 7th. Prime Minister Lee said, "We will implement job projects for vulnerable groups from the beginning of the year and execute earned income tax credits and livelihood benefits before the Lunar New Year," adding, "We will expedite budget execution to help the economy regain vitality quickly." Representative Lee said, "It is tight to execute 71% of this year's budget in the first half," and requested, "I ask local governments and others to manage fund allocation and early execution status well with the determination to speed up budget execution."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.