'Seoul COVID-19 Relief Fund' Applications Accepted from Tomorrow at 564 Shinhan and Woori Bank Branches

Operation of Dedicated Desks for Emergency Management Funds and Golmok Sangkwon 119 for Small and Medium Enterprises

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 5th that it will officially operate the 'Seoul City Livelihood Innovation Finance Dedicated Window' at 564 branches of Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank starting from the 6th to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

At these dedicated windows, consultations and actual financial support will be provided for the 'Emergency Management Stabilization Fund for COVID-19 Affected Companies,' the 'Seoul-type Alleyway Commercial District 119 Emergency Fund,' and the 'Seoul-type Interest Cost Reduction Refinancing Fund.'

First, the Emergency Management Stabilization Fund for COVID-19 affected companies, which has been in effect since February, had its initially secured 500 billion KRW exhausted early within two months. Therefore, an additional 300 billion KRW will be injected to continue support without interruption. The support conditions remain the same, offering low-interest rates in the 1% range, a guarantee fee rate of 0.5%, and a 100% guarantee ratio for companies directly or indirectly affected by COVID-19.

For small business owners facing the dual burden of sharply declining sales and fixed costs such as rent and labor, a simplified guarantee review will provide a uniform support amount of 20 million KRW regardless of the existing guarantee amount. This targets small business owners with annual sales under 200 million KRW in the previous year, a business history of six months or more, and credit ratings up to grade 7. Interest subsidy of 1.6% is provided, resulting in an actual burden interest rate of about 1.2%.

To help low-credit small business owners currently using high-interest loans of 15% or more switch to low-interest loans, loans of up to 30 million KRW per company, totaling 60 billion KRW, will also be supported. Eligible companies are those with credit ratings of grade 4 or lower and whose high-interest loan has passed three months since issuance. An interest subsidy of 1.3% is provided, lowering the customer's actual burden interest rate to about 1.5%.

The list of branches operating these dedicated windows can be found on the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation website. Regardless of the business location, applicants can call the consultation window staff at the nearest branch to receive guidance on required documents and visit schedules before visiting.

Seo Seong-man, Director of Labor and Livelihood Policy at Seoul City, stated, "As COVID-19 prolongs, we plan to pursue various efforts to resolve the management difficulties of 660,000 small business owners and self-employed people in Seoul," adding, "We are also negotiating participation from financial institutions other than the city treasury banks."

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