Jeonnam Provincial Assembly Member Kim Yong-ho Strives to Minimize Economic Damage from COVID-19

Urgent Meeting of do T/F Team on the 10th, Increase Contingency Fund Spending to Minimize Regional Economic Impact

Kim Yong-ho, Jeonnam Provincial Assembly Member

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] Kim Yongho, a member of the Jeonnam Provincial Assembly, held an emergency meeting on the 10th with the T/F team in charge of responding to the economic situation caused by the COVID-19 crisis in Jeonnam Province to review measures to revive the local economy and minimize damage to small business owners and self-employed individuals.

As of the 6th, a total of 3,365 damage reports had been received at the Small Business Damage and Difficulty Integrated Reporting Center established in Jeonnam Province, with over 93% of them complaining of decreased sales, resulting in a surge in demand for emergency management stabilization funds and special guarantee support.

Currently, all employees of the Jeonnam Credit Guarantee Foundation are operating in an emergency system including night shifts, but due to the overwhelming number of consultations and applications, they are facing difficulties in prompt execution. The execution rate compared to the COVID-19 special guarantee applications (50.3 billion KRW) is about 8.7%, which is low, and the processing time takes about 4 to 8 weeks. Therefore, the foundation has decided to hire emergency personnel.

Assemblyman Kim Yongho emphasized, “According to the Jeollanam-do Shared Property Management Ordinance, there is a clause to reduce the rental fee (lease fee) of shared property by 50%. Recently, the government’s income tax reduction policy for landlords who lower rent by 50% aligns with this, so we must actively implement rental fee reductions for small business owners, self-employed individuals, and traditional market workers in the province.”

Accordingly, Jeonnam Province plans to implement a 50% rent reduction for 135 tenant companies located in Jeonnam Technopark during April and May, and among 42 public markets, 33 are participating in rent reduction and 9 in payment deferral.

Assemblyman Kim pointed out, “Although interest support and management stabilization fund loans temporarily help struggling small business owners and self-employed individuals, these are debts that must eventually be repaid. Business must improve and consumption must revive for the local economy to recover.” He proposed that Jeonnam Province and the 22 cities and counties promptly execute their budgets and stimulate consumption by using the performance bonuses of public officials and public enterprise employees within the first quarter.

He added, “Along with the supplementary budget compilation, we need to increase the execution of the 72.2 billion KRW contingency fund allocated this year to minimize damage to the local economy. I will continuously monitor the execution details of Jeonnam Province’s contingency fund and the contingency fund allocation plan centered on the Economic Energy Bureau to minimize damage to small business owners.”

Meanwhile, the contingency fund is a system that allows local governments to appropriately respond to unavoidable expenditures that could not be predicted during financial activities, providing flexibility in budget management to efficiently carry out local government projects.

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