Gyeongbuk Province Prepares Emergency Measures for Small Business Owners... Supplies 1 Trillion Won in Special Funds

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Young-wook] Gyeongsangbuk-do announced on the 17th that it will implement three major emergency support measures to help small business owners struggling due to concerns over the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

The province first promised to provide 1 trillion won in special funds for small business owners with no interest, no collateral, and no guarantee fees.

Regarding the support criteria, it stated, "Small business owners with high credit ratings can receive existing bank loans, so selection will focus mainly on those with low credit ratings."

The support amount is about 30 million won on average per small business owner, and Gyeongbuk expects that about 33,000 small business owners in the province will benefit.

Governor Lee Cheol-woo of Gyeongbuk said, "(Regarding concerns about non-performing loans such as inability to repay) since failure to repay would result in becoming a credit delinquent, we believe everyone will be able to repay."

The governor also revealed plans to support small business owners' card fees. This is a plan to support 0.8% of card fees up to 500,000 won for small business owners whose previous year's card sales amount is below a certain threshold.

To revitalize Gyeongbuk's economy, the 'Gyeongbuk Big Bargain Sale' will also begin. To this end, the discount rate of local love gift certificates will first be expanded from the current 5-8% to 10%, and the issuance amount will be increased from 300 billion won to 540 billion won.

An online shopping mall special exhibition will also be held to support marketing by the province for excellent products of small and medium enterprises in Gyeongbuk.

Governor Lee Cheol-woo of Gyeongbuk explained, "Apart from the government supplementary budget, we will independently promote emergency measures to revive the economy," adding, "Since these measures are implemented independently with provincial budgets and funds, the projects or support scale may be expanded once the government supplementary budget is finalized."

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