Busan Currency 'Dongbaekjeon' to Issue 1.6 Trillion Won in New Year... Reduced National Funds Compensated by City Budget Injection

Monthly Limit Adjusted to 130 Billion KRW, Individual Recharge Limit Set at 500,000 KRW, Monthly Cashback Up to 50,000 KRW

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Busan City will issue the local currency 'Dongbaekjeon' at the same scale of 1.6 trillion KRW as last year in the new year.

Although national funding has been significantly reduced, Busan City has decided to make up the scale of Dongbaekjeon by greatly investing city funds as well.

From January, the Dongbaekjeon cashback rate is expected to remain the same at 10%. The monthly personal recharge limit will be adjusted to 500,000 KRW, and cashback can be received up to a maximum of 50,000 KRW per month.

Last year, Busan City operated the personal recharge limit for Dongbaekjeon at 300,000 KRW in the first half of the year, but temporarily raised it to 600,000 KRW and 1,000,000 KRW to revive the sluggish consumer sentiment.

This year, with the government support rate reduced from 8% to 4% and national funding significantly cut, the city considered adjusting the personal recharge limit back to 300,000 KRW as in the first half of 2021, but considering the impact of the local currency Dongbaekjeon on the regional economy, it was expanded and adjusted to 500,000 KRW. The city plans to maintain this recharge limit steadily until the end of the year without adjustment.

Launched on December 30, 2019, to prevent the outflow of local capital and increase sales in traditional markets and alleyway commercial districts, Busan’s local currency Dongbaekjeon has been playing a significant role.

The current cumulative issuance amount has surpassed 2.8 trillion KRW, and it is evaluated as having established itself as Busan’s representative public platform.

Also, to develop from a simple payment platform into an expandable platform, last April, a dedicated online shopping mall Dongbaek Mall was introduced, and in June, the Dongbaekjeon donation service was launched. Since December, tourism gift certificates, the taxi calling service Dongbaek Taxi, and alleyway-specialized cards to revitalize alleyway commercial districts have been introduced and are in operation.

When Busan’s public delivery app ‘Dongbaektong’ officially launches its service in January next year, the economic inducement effect through Dongbaekjeon is expected to multiply.

Park Hyung-jun, Mayor of Busan, said, “Despite the city’s difficult financial conditions, issuing 1.6 trillion KRW worth of Dongbaekjeon is hoped to support small business owners who are going through hardships.”

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