Kim Dong-yeon Criticizes Government's Next Year's Sound Fiscal Policy for Ignoring Vulnerable Groups

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon is discussing current issues with Oh Se-hee, President of the Small Business Federation, during a meeting held at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office on the 18th.

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, criticized the government's 'sound fiscal policy' for next year as a policy that does not consider vulnerable groups such as small business owners and self-employed people at all. In particular, he promised to do his best to revive the budget related to the issuance of local currency, which the government completely cut for next year.

On the 18th, Governor Kim met with officials from the Small Business Association at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office and said, "If the economy worsens a little next year, small business owners, self-employed people, and venture companies will suffer in that order, but the central government is talking about sound fiscal policy while presenting the budget for next year," adding, "As someone who was responsible for managing the government’s finances, I believe that saving the livelihood and economically vulnerable groups is more important than sound fiscal policy. Therefore, Gyeonggi Province’s budget for next year was also prepared accordingly."

He continued, "The central government cut the entire budget for local currency next year. I am strongly urging through members of the National Assembly, including meeting with the chairman of the National Assembly Budget Committee next week, to save the local currency budget during the budget review," and added, "This is not for political reasons but because it is directly related to the local economy, employment increase, and the livelihood of neighborhood markets, which are of utmost concern to small business owners and self-employed people."

Oh Se-hee, president of the Small Business Association, responded, "I was really glad to see local currency included in the supplementary budget bill passed yesterday," and said, "Having served as an economic and financial secretary and as deputy prime minister for economic affairs, and especially knowing the small business sector very well, I have high expectations."

She also actively requested support, saying, "Large corporations have self-sustainability, but small business owners inevitably have to close their businesses quickly if they struggle for a few months," and "The local economy thrives only if small business owners and neighborhood stores survive."

Meanwhile, Gyeonggi Province is currently implementing various policies to support small business owners facing the 'three highs (high prices, high interest rates, and high exchange rates) crisis' following COVID-19.

Since September 19, the province has been implementing the 'High-Interest Rate Debt Refinancing and Low-Interest Operating Fund Special Guarantee' through the Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation. This guarantees support to refinance high-interest loans with an annual interest rate of over 10% at an interest rate in the 2% range or to receive low-interest operating funds.

The policy also adjusted financial support for small business owners to receive refinancing funds to prevent loan delinquencies and provide a re-challenge loan (small loans for debt adjustment and faithful repayment) for the financially vulnerable, with a maximum of 7 million to 15 million KRW per person.

In terms of social safety nets, the province plans to support 80,000 small business owners this year by enrolling them in the 'Yellow Umbrella' mutual aid system for livelihood stabilization and retirement security, and provide a re-start incentive of 3 million KRW for up to 1,900 businesses to maintain their livelihood after business closure.

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