Usage of Iksan Local Currency 'Dairo-um' Decreases After Additional Support Ends

Assemblyman Jang Kyung-ho: "To Revitalize the Local Economy, the Payback System Must Be Extended"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hong Jaehee] Iksan City, Jeonbuk, introduced the local currency ‘Dairo-um Card’ to revitalize the economy, but usage has decreased since the additional support ended.

According to Jang Kyungho, a member of the Iksan City Council, the number of citizens using the Dairo-um Card exceeded 60,000, but usage has noticeably declined since this month when the additional support ended.

From January to July, a total of 87.571 billion KRW worth of Dairo-um Cards were issued, and the payment amount was 70.54 billion KRW.

From April to June, when the city implemented the Dairo-um incentive support policy to overcome the COVID-19 local economic recession crisis, the issuance amounts were 18.963 billion KRW in April, 20.874 billion KRW in May, and 23.223 billion KRW in June.

In July, after the Dairo-um incentive support policy ended, the amount sharply decreased to 15.421 billion KRW.

Looking at the Dairo-um consumption patterns by number of transactions (January to July), supermarkets and marts accounted for 745,764 transactions, general restaurants 560,371, hospitals and pharmacies 243,725, cafes and bakeries 180,672, and academies and education 21,618.

Assemblyman Jang Kyung-ho. Photo by Iksan City Council

In this regard, Councilman Jang Kyungho proposed to the executive branch during a 5-minute speech at the 299th extraordinary session, “The payback system that supports consumption incentives should be extended for a certain period to stimulate consumption.”

The proposal includes lowering the monthly recharge limit per person for the Dairo-um Card from 1 million KRW to 500,000 KRW, extending the 10% support on recharge and the 10% consumption incentive support on the amount used. However, large retail stores and large hospitals are excluded.

Councilman Jang emphasized, “Economic experts expect that it will take at least two years or more for the economy to recover from the COVID-19 recession,” adding, “The payback system should be extended for a certain period to alleviate the difficulties of small business owners and micro-entrepreneurs and to ease the contraction of economic activities.”

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