Sogongyeon: "16.9 Trillion Supplementary Budget Is Disappointing but... Hope It Becomes a Catalyst for Overcoming Small Business Crisis"

Expectations for Additional Support Measures Including 2nd Supplementary Budget After Presidential Election
Welcoming Opinions on Further Extension of Small Business Loan Maturities and Repayment Deferrals

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Minjae] The Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise Associations expressed hope on the 16.9 trillion won supplementary budget, though insufficient, will serve as a catalyst for overcoming the crisis faced by small business owners.

On the 22nd, the Federation issued a statement saying, "Considering the plight of small business owners driven to the brink of survival, a large-scale supplementary budget exceeding 30 trillion won should have been passed."

However, the Federation evaluated positively that "the ruling and opposition parties reached a last-minute agreement for swift processing and expressed intentions to supplement the budget by promising additional support including a second supplementary budget after the presidential election."

Furthermore, the Federation assessed that "the passed supplementary budget increased the compensation adjustment rate to 90%, raised the minimum compensation amount to 500,000 won, and expanded the quarantine support fund to include 100,000 simplified taxpayers and 20,000 businesses with annual sales between 1 billion and 3 billion won, showing progress compared to the original government proposal."

The Federation welcomed the National Assembly's decision considering the circumstances of small business owners and the Financial Services Commission's additional extension of loan maturity and repayment deferral measures.

The Federation urged, "We hope the National Assembly and political circles will continue their interest after the presidential election to provide 100% loss compensation, resolve blind spots, and alleviate financial difficulties to support small business owners in extreme crisis."

It added, "We hope the promises made by presidential candidates to support small business owners with 50 trillion won, 100 trillion won, and the establishment of a presidential commission related to small business owners will materialize to enhance the resilience of small business owners."

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