Busan City Reviews "Ultra-Low Interest Rates in the 0% Range"... Establishes Emergency Economic 'Crisis Management Meeting'

Operation of the 'Daily Emergency Economic Measures Meeting'... Strengthening Support Measures for COVID-19 Affected Companies and Small Businesses
From the 1st, the Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs Leads Focused Discussions on Phase 2 Financial Measu

View of Busan City Hall.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Busan City has strengthened its emergency response system for economic crisis management starting September 1st by establishing a ‘Crisis Management Meeting’ chaired by the acting mayor, and has begun operating a ‘Daily Emergency Economic Measures Meeting.’

This is to respond to the crisis as the recent resurgence of COVID-19 has led to strengthened social distancing measures, causing an overall contraction in economic activities and raising concerns about a renewed regional economic downturn.

The ‘Emergency Meeting’ is composed of key economic officials of the city, including the Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs as the head, the Director of the Job Economy Office, the Director of the Future Industry Bureau, the Director of the Tourism MICE Industry Bureau, the Director of the Growth Strategy Bureau, the Director of the Marine Fisheries and Logistics Bureau, and the Officer for Livelihood and Labor Policy.

They are preparing policies that citizens can directly feel in the second half of the year, such as measures to overcome damages caused by the COVID-19 resurgence and fostering online and non-face-to-face economies.

On the first day of the meeting, September 1st, Busan City focused on reviewing the second-stage financial measures for small and medium enterprises and small business owners. In particular, they discussed bold measures beyond conventional support policies, such as easing loan restrictions for low-credit small business owners and offering ultra-low interest rate products in the 0% range.

They also discussed plans to establish a ‘Busan-type Win-Win Cooperation Fund’ involving local business circles, public institutions, and commercial banks to overcome COVID-19. Detailed plans are expected to be announced after full consultations with related organizations in September.

The city plans to also concretize measures to foster online and non-face-to-face based industries. Detailed project plans, including the public mobile market scheduled to open in November and measures to revitalize online e-commerce, are expected to be adjusted in a way that citizens can directly experience.

Park Seong-hoon, Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs of Busan City, pointed out, “Until August, Busan’s major economic indicators showed an overall increasing trend compared to the previous month, indicating a recovery trend, but due to the resurgence of COVID-19, there is a very high possibility of entering a recession again.”

Deputy Mayor Park said, “In a situation where offline consumption contraction is inevitable, we will strengthen support for online and non-face-to-face sales channels for small local businesses and discover policies with high public perception through continuous communication with the field.”

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