[2021 National Audit] Hong Nam-gi "Household Debt Management, Additional Measures to Be Considered If Necessary"

2021 National Assembly Planning and Finance Committee National Audit Work Report

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, is attending the Ministry of Economy and Finance's audit at the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee held in Yeouido, Seoul on the 5th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, stated on the 5th, "To stabilize the household debt growth rate at the 4% level by 2022, we will faithfully implement the previously announced 'Household Debt Management Plan' and consider 'additional measures' if necessary." This indicates the government's possibility of 'additional regulations' amid a sharp rise in loan interest rates as it undertakes total household loan volume management.

Deputy Prime Minister Hong appeared at the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee audit session in the morning and reported on his duties, saying, "We will thoroughly manage internal and external risk factors such as strengthening household debt management and creating momentum for stabilizing the real estate market to support the economic recovery trend." However, he added, "To alleviate the burden on financially vulnerable groups due to rising interest rates, we will simultaneously implement supplementary measures such as expanding policy-based low-income financial supply and refinancing support."

Regarding real estate policy, he said, "We will continue to pursue a consistent real estate policy framework under the broad principles of 'expanding housing supply, protecting actual demanders, and eradicating speculation,'" adding, "We will closely monitor changes in market conditions and strengthen policy efforts to accelerate housing supply under the principle that 'housing supply is the top priority.'"

In this regard, the government is expanding the pre-sale scale to a total of 163,000 units and plans to ease regulations on area standards and floor heating for non-apartment housing. Additionally, it plans to designate preliminary and main districts for the 2.4 urban public housing complex project within the year.

Regarding external matters, Deputy Prime Minister Hong said, "We will continue efforts to stabilize the foreign exchange market in preparation for the possibility of increased volatility in international financial markets due to changes in major countries' monetary policies and the development of COVID-19," adding, "We will closely monitor the US-China dispute and trends in the reorganization of supply chains in core industries and support the utilization of opportunities and risk responses through communication with our companies."

Concerning the soaring prices throughout the year, Hong said, "We will make every effort to stably manage items with prices higher than the previous year, such as eggs and rice, and prepare measures to stabilize the supply of kimchi vegetables." Especially amid growing concerns about 'milk inflation,' he stated, "We will strengthen communication with the industry and prepare improvement plans for the milk pricing system within the year." Regarding public utility charges, which are considered a risk factor for rising living costs, he said, "We will stably manage public utility charges by dispersing the timing of local public utility fee increases concentrated in the fourth quarter and the first half of next year."

Regarding difficulties faced by companies due to rising raw material prices, he said, "We will maximize steel production by domestic steelmakers and continue joint distribution inspections with related ministries to eradicate speculative demand," adding, "The Public Procurement Service will also continue to promote discounted sales of non-ferrous metals in stock."

The government plans to hold the first review committee meeting on the 8th of this month for small business owners and self-employed individuals hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis and aims to begin full-scale loss compensation as early as the end of this month. Regarding this, Deputy Prime Minister Hong said, "To support smooth loss compensation, we have supplemented 1 trillion won through the second supplementary budget this year and an additional 1.8 trillion won in next year's budget," adding, "If additional needs arise in the third quarter this year, we will support them with surplus funds from the fund, and whether to increase the budget next year will be discussed during the National Assembly review process considering the quarantine situation."

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