Choo Kyung-ho: "20% Cheaper Gift Sets 20,000 More... Full Effort for Price Stabilization"

15th Price and Livelihood Stability Inspection Meeting
"Additional Support for Apple and Pear Shipping Fees Next Week"
Fuel Tax Reduction Also "October Extension Under Review"

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho is delivering opening remarks at the 'Price and Livelihood Inspection Meeting' held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 15th. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho stated on the 15th, "We will supply an additional 20,000 practical gift sets priced up to 20% cheaper than market prices."

On the same day, Deputy Prime Minister Choo held a price and livelihood stability inspection meeting at the government complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul, and said, "For apples and pears, whose prices rose last month due to supply instability, we will provide additional support for some costs such as shipping fees starting next week to encourage timely shipment."

Deputy Prime Minister Choo said, "Out of the total 30,000 tons of tariff quota for chicken scheduled to be introduced during the Chuseok holiday, 20,000 tons have already been brought into the market," and added, "The remaining 10,000 tons will be swiftly introduced by early October." Regarding pork, he explained, "In addition to the initially planned 15,000 tons of tariff quota, we will start procedures today to import an additional 15,000 tons to maximize supply before Chuseok."

He continued, "Starting today, in addition to the existing nine markets, we will hold a 40% refund event for Onnuri gift certificates at 21 seafood markets nationwide, including Daejeon Jungang Market and Daegu Chilseong Market, on an ongoing basis until the end of the year," emphasizing, "We will make every effort to execute the 80 billion won preliminary budget for promoting seafood consumption."

Regarding the extension of the fuel tax reduction and fuel price-linked subsidies until October, he mentioned, "We will also review whether to extend them depending on future international oil price trends."

On local public utility fees, he said, "Efforts for stable management are also important," promising, "We will actively cooperate with local governments centered on the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to absorb as much as possible the factors for fee increases through self-help efforts, and in unavoidable cases, we will stagger or defer the timing of increases or minimize the increase rate." The government plans to support local governments' efforts by evaluating the performance of local price stability management in the second half of the year and distributing 8 billion won in special grants as financial incentives accordingly.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Choo evaluated, "Thanks to policy efforts, the average price of 20 major essential goods remains 6.0% lower than last year," and added, "The cost of the Chuseok ancestral rites table, consisting of 28 items, also shows a 4.8% decrease compared to last year."

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