Financial Services Commission's Budget for Next Year 460 Million KRW... 21% Increase Compared to This Year

Focus on Supporting Microfinance and Securing Future Growth Engines

The Financial Services Commission announced on the 29th that the general account expenditure budget for next year is set at 4.564 trillion KRW, an increase of 800.3 billion KRW (21.3%) compared to this year's expenditure budget.

The budget for next year focuses on projects related to supporting low-income financial services and securing future growth engines (corporate and regional economic revitalization). Major budgets for supporting low-income financial services include 햇살론15 (Haetsal Loan 15), the Small Business and Self-Employed Debt Adjustment Program (New Start Fund), temporary special guarantees for lowest credit borrowers, 청년도약계좌 (Youth Leap Account), 청년희망적금 (Youth Hope Savings), contributions to the Agricultural and Fishery Household Lump-Sum Savings Encouragement Fund, and support for appointing debtor representatives.

A budget of 90 billion KRW has been allocated for the '햇살론15' policy financial product aimed at low-credit and low-income individuals. The Financial Services Commission and the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency plan to supply a total of 650 billion KRW annually in 2024, including the budget allocated this year.

The budget for the New Start Fund next year is set at 760 billion KRW. The New Start Fund is a debt adjustment program for small business owners and self-employed individuals, aiming to support credit recovery and business revival. It provides support such as extending repayment periods and reducing interest and principal on financial institution debts of small business owners and self-employed persons affected by COVID-19, according to the borrower's repayment capacity recovery speed.

Through the New Start Fund, a total of 30 trillion KRW in debt adjustments for small business owners and self-employed individuals is supported, with a cumulative budget of 1.38 trillion KRW secured so far (including in-kind contributions).

A budget of 56 billion KRW has been allocated for the special guarantee product for lowest credit borrowers, 'Lowest Credit Special Guarantee.' This will be used to supply about 280 billion KRW annually. This measure aims to alleviate financial difficulties for the bottom 10% in credit scores.

To support mid- to long-term asset formation for the youth, a budget of 500 billion KRW has been allocated for the Youth Leap Account next year. New applications for the Youth Leap Account will be accepted monthly next year as well. The government provides a contribution proportional to the amount deposited by the individual, and interest income generated from the Youth Leap Account is exempt from taxation.

A budget of 165.7 billion KRW has been allocated for the Youth Hope Savings sold between February and March this year. Using this fund, an incentive corresponding to a certain percentage of the amount deposited will be paid to young people who subscribed to the Youth Hope Savings upon maturity.

The government has allocated a budget of 31.5 billion KRW for contributions to the Agricultural and Fishery Household Lump-Sum Savings Encouragement Fund to help establish a stable living foundation for farmers and fishermen and contribute to the development of agriculture, fisheries, livestock, and forestry industries. In addition to government contributions, the Bank of Korea's contributions will help form a fund of approximately 64.1 billion KRW.

In the ongoing difficult economic conditions where illegal private loans continue to harm low-income groups, a budget of 1 billion KRW has been allocated to support the appointment of debtor representatives.

A budget has also been prepared to support corporate innovation and restructuring. A budget of 240 billion KRW has been allocated next year to support the fostering of innovative industries and supply growth funds to small and venture businesses. Based on this, an Innovation Growth Fund worth 3 trillion KRW will be established.

A budget of 12.3 billion KRW has been allocated for fintech support projects. This will be used to support participation in financial testbeds and provide expert consulting to help fintech companies continue to grow.

A budget of 50 billion KRW has been allocated to establish a Corporate Restructuring Innovation Fund. Using this, an additional 1 trillion KRW fund (with a 5% government equity ratio) will be created, primarily investing in restructuring companies.

To support regional economic revitalization, the Financial Services Commission has allocated a budget of 100 billion KRW to establish a Regional Revitalization Investment Fund based on cooperation among the government, local governments, and the private sector. Local governments and private entities will act as project operators to support various types of regional revitalization projects.

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