Hong Nam-ki: "Improve Income and Distribution Indicators through Active Government Role... Will Hurry Support for Small Business Owners"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, evaluated that the government's active role, including the second supplementary budget (supplementary budget) projects, improved the income and distribution indicators in the third quarter.

On the 18th, regarding the results of the '3rd Quarter Household Trends Survey' announced by Statistics Korea, Deputy Prime Minister Hong said on his Facebook, "The quintile ratio, an indicator representing income distribution, was 5.34 times in the third quarter, the lowest for the third quarter since 2019," and added, "The improvement trend has continued for four consecutive quarters since the fourth quarter of last year."

He continued, "The increase in public transfer income is the result of the effects of the second supplementary budget projects, such as the Small Business Hope Recovery Fund and the Win-Win National Support Fund, added on top of the steady strengthening of the basic social safety net, including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the expansion of the basic pension," and added, "In particular, due to the Consumption Plus Fund, which provided an additional 100,000 won per person to low-income households, the contribution rate of improvement in public transfer income was significantly higher at 10.7 percentage points in the first quintile compared to 1.7 percentage points in the fifth quintile."

Furthermore, he explained, "Since the COVID-19 shock was concentrated on vulnerable groups and there are concerns about polarization expansion due to the K-shaped recovery, we will strengthen efforts not only for inclusive recovery that alleviates difficulties of vulnerable groups but also for income increase through job creation," and added, "In addition to the loss compensation for small business owners that started last month, we will promptly devise support measures for industries not covered by loss compensation, and through phased daily recovery, we will strive to fundamentally improve domestic demand and employment conditions."

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