Government to Announce Industry-Specific Support Measures as Early as This Week... Full Effort to Combat COVID-19

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, is delivering opening remarks at a meeting with business leaders regarding the response to the novel coronavirus, held on the 7th at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] The government plans to announce support measures for industries affected by the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia) as early as this week. The measures will include policy support for the tourism and aviation sectors, which have been directly impacted.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 9th, the government has begun preparing related measures centered on the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (tourism) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (aviation).

An official from the Ministry of Economy and Finance explained, "We are preparing support measures for various industries including dining out besides tourism and aviation," adding, "We plan to announce the measures for the industries that are ready first."

Since there are concerns about the regional economy due to the novel coronavirus, it is necessary to prepare special measures.

However, the government is still considering whether to prepare separate measures for semiconductors and displays. In fact, Deputy Prime Minister Hong previously stated, "There are currently no companies in the display sector reporting particular difficulties on site."

Earlier, the government decided to newly supply 1.9 trillion won in funds to facilitate smooth financing for small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-sized companies. If loans or guarantees from policy financial institutions mature within six months, their terms will be extended up to one year, and principal repayments will be deferred for one year.

For small business owners and self-employed individuals, 20 billion won in management stabilization funds will be newly provided at low interest rates around 2%, and 100 billion won in special guarantees will also be newly supported. The scale of microfinance loans for small merchants in traditional markets will be additionally expanded by 5 billion won.

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