Yoon Hee-sung, President of the Export-Import Bank, Launches 'Emergency Economic Crisis Response TF' as First Action

Yoon Hee-seong, Bank President, Discusses Loan Support Measures to Address Economic Crisis of High Inflation, High Interest Rates, and High Exchange Rates in First Move

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Je-hoon] The Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM) announced on the 28th that Yoon Hee-sung, the newly appointed president, chaired the first meeting of the 'Emergency Economic Crisis Response Task Force (TF)' since his inauguration. All executives of KEXIM, along with department heads included in the emergency economic task force such as the Planning Department Head, Credit General Manager, and Risk Management Department Head, attended the meeting.

At the meeting, KEXIM's credit support measures to overcome the complex economic crisis caused by recent high inflation, high interest rates, and high exchange rates were discussed. KEXIM judged that supply chain instability, including raw material supply disruptions, was the cause of the high inflation situation and decided to significantly expand the support scale related to the 'Global Supply Chain Response Program' from the existing 15 trillion won to 20 trillion won. The additional 5 trillion won will be used to provide financial support necessary for securing raw materials and for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and mid-sized companies struggling due to supply chain disruptions.

In response to the worsening financial difficulties of SMEs caused by the base interest rate hike and spread expansion, KEXIM will actively seek ways to alleviate the interest burden on export SMEs. To ensure continuous funding for SMEs and mid-sized companies, KEXIM plans to maintain the loan ratio to these companies at over 50%, similar to last year's level of 50.2% of total loans.

Additionally, to respond to the contraction of foreign currency liquidity due to the rising exchange rate, KEXIM plans to actively utilize its global fundraising capabilities as the representative issuer of Korean bonds. KEXIM aims to raise foreign currency funds amounting to 20 billion dollars by the end of this year, which is more than 5 billion dollars higher than the amount raised last year.

Furthermore, KEXIM plans to supply sufficient credit through foreign currency financial support secured by bond issuance to essential sectors such as future strategic industries including batteries, shipbuilding and defense, and supply chain stabilization. President Yoon emphasized, "High inflation, high interest rates, and high exchange rates caused by global supply chain disruptions pose a significant threat to our economy, which is highly dependent on external factors," adding, "To overcome this crisis, KEXIM will provide swift and bold financial support to vulnerable sectors such as supply chains and SMEs, actively backing government policies."

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