The Bank of Korea Extends Financial Support for COVID-19 Affected Businesses and Small Merchants by 6 Months

FOMC Decision to Take Effect Starting Next Month

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] The Bank of Korea decided at the Monetary Policy Committee meeting on the 24th to extend the temporary financial support period for affected businesses, considering the ongoing difficulties faced by small business owners and SMEs due to the impact of COVID-19.

Accordingly, the bank loan handling period for 'COVID-19 affected business support' and 'small business owner support' will be extended by six months, from the original end of this month to the end of September. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the Bank of Korea has been providing working capital loans with maturities within one year to affected service industry small business owners through financial intermediary support loans. The bank loan handling standards will be implemented from April 1.

In the case of small business owner support, in addition to the existing support for the service industry, support for manufacturing will be exceptionally allowed, and the support ratio for high-credit borrowers will be reduced to increase support for medium- and low-credit borrowers.

Also, within the service industry, other legal-related services such as legal affairs, accounting, and taxation, as well as healthcare, will be excluded from the support targets. New support for material, parts, and equipment companies, which was operated in response to Japan's export regulations, will also be terminated.

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