Kibo Resumes 'Customized Special Guarantee' to Respond to the Third Wave of COVID-19

900 Billion KRW Special Guarantee Support for Technology SMEs Amid COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Korea Technology Finance Corporation (Chairman Jung Yoon-mo, hereinafter Kibo) announced that it supported special guarantees worth 2.38 trillion KRW for COVID-19 through supplementary budgets last year, and recently resumed special guarantees from the 8th to help technology SMEs overcome management crises amid the expanding damage caused by the third wave of COVID-19.

At the end of December last year, Kibo's special guarantees to support affected SMEs were included in the "COVID-19 Spread Response Measures" prepared jointly by government agencies. Kibo explained that it is responding swiftly by implementing the system within a week of the announcement. Kibo implemented special guarantees worth 900 billion KRW with preferential measures such as a 95% guarantee ratio and a fixed guarantee fee rate of 1.0% to prevent the spread of damage to technology SMEs whose management crises are worsening again due to the recent resurgence of COVID-19.

This special guarantee expands the support target to all industries compared to the existing special guarantees focused on specific sectors such as tourism and performances and companies mainly engaged in exports and imports with China. To actively support companies whose sales have decreased due to COVID-19, the guarantee screening criteria were relaxed to allow guarantee support based on sales before the COVID-19 damage. Additionally, Kibo has extended the active guarantee handling measures for overcoming the COVID-19 crisis, which were temporarily operated until the end of last year, through this year.

Chairman Jung Yoon-mo of Kibo said, "The COVID-19 pandemic has dealt an unprecedented shock to business, the economy, and our society, and SMEs, which play a pivotal role in the national economy, are going through a critical time due to the third wave." He added, "Through this special guarantee, Kibo will continue to support technology SMEs severely affected by the prolonged COVID-19 crisis to overcome management difficulties and lead the post-COVID era, which no one has experienced before."

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