Chungnam Expands Local Currency Issuance from 63.3 Billion to 321.3 Billion Won

[Asia Economy (Naepo) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province is expanding the issuance scale of local currency from the initially planned 63.3 billion KRW to 321.3 billion KRW.

The province announced on the 13th that it plans to expand the issuance scale of local currency in consideration of the increasing economic difficulties faced by local small business owners due to COVID-19.

The purpose of expanding the issuance of local currency is to help the circulation of funds in the local economy, which has been stagnated due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

The province will also extend the discount period for local currency and increase the purchase limit. Local currency will be sold at a 10% discount until the end of June, and the purchase limit per person will be raised to a maximum of 1 million KRW.

This means that by purchasing 1 million KRW worth of local currency for a maximum of 900,000 KRW, users can use the full face value (1 million KRW) at local affiliated stores.

Ultimately, the province expects that these series of measures will revitalize the local economy, which has been depressed due to the COVID-19 crisis, while helping local currency to settle firmly in the field as it enters the establishment phase after its initial introduction.

To this end, the province plans to expand the introduction of mobile and card-type local currency to all 15 cities and counties in the jurisdiction and enable integration and utilization with the local mobile shopping operating system.

Additionally, the province will secure affiliated stores across various industries to ensure that users do not experience inconvenience when using local currency in daily life, and will explore ways to expand local currency sales outlets to the eup, myeon, and dong levels.

A provincial official said, “The decision to significantly expand the issuance scale was based on the judgment that the circulation of local currency directly affects the sales increase of small business owners,” adding, “We hope that the local alley markets struggling due to COVID-19 can breathe some relief through local currency.”

He also added, “Along with the expanded issuance of local currency, the province plans to introduce a system that can prevent fraudulent circulation in advance and manage it integrally,” and “Through this, real-time monitoring will be conducted, and affiliated stores attempting fraudulent transactions with local currency will face measures such as deregistration.”

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