Seoul Guarantee, 750 Billion KRW Support for COVID-19 Affected SMEs and Small Business Guarantees

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[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] SGI Seoul Guarantee Insurance announced on the 24th that it is strengthening guarantee support for small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners facing difficulties due to COVID-19.

Since February last year, Seoul Guarantee has been operating a separate reception desk to continuously monitor on-site difficulties. When customers affected by COVID-19 apply for guarantee renewal or extension, the company helps to promptly issue certificates under the existing underwriting conditions.

The total number of guarantees newly issued or extended due to confirmed COVID-19 damages from February last year to the first quarter of this year reached 2,252 cases, with an insured amount of 748.8 billion KRW.

In particular, for 1,284 cases of tax payment deadline extension applications from small merchants and corporations struggling with temporary cash flow difficulties such as sharp sales declines, tax payment guarantees worth 691.5 billion KRW were issued.

Additionally, a 20% uniform discount on insurance premiums is applied to advance payment guarantees for public procurement contracts, reducing the insurance premium burden by approximately 13.2 billion KRW for about 76,000 cases from April last year to the first quarter of this year.

For personal debtors of the Saetdol Loan, a mid-interest rate loan guarantee product, repayment deferral of principal on household loans is supported, reaching a total of 377 cases and 2.5 billion KRW by the first quarter.

Yoo Kwang-yeol, CEO of Seoul Guarantee, emphasized, "While proactive risk management amid increasing uncertainty is important, it is also crucial to provide financial services that customers truly need when they are in difficulty. We will also fully play the role of an accelerator for government policies such as the Korean New Deal as a financial pillar to overcome COVID-19."

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