Vice Minister Gi Announces 150 Billion KRW Support to Stabilize Agricultural, Livestock, and Fishery Product Prices This Week

Full Effort to Stabilize Prices of Fruits and Food Items
Initial Direct Import of Bananas and Oranges 2000t
1000t of Chicken Tariff Reduction Volume This Month

Amid growing instability in food prices such as fruits and vegetables, Kim Byung-hwan, the 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, expressed the government's commitment to price stabilization by stating, "Starting this week, we will begin providing emergency price stabilization funds worth 150 billion KRW for agricultural and livestock products."

On the 22nd, the Ministry of Economy and Finance announced that at the '14th Vice Ministerial Meeting on Prices' held at the Government Seoul Office, jointly chaired by Vice Minister Kim and Han Hoon of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, they conducted a focused review of price trends for agricultural, livestock, and fishery products and the progress of price stabilization measures. In response to recent food price instability in fruits and vegetables, the Ministry of Economy and Finance is working in full force by operating a daily price monitoring system jointly with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

The government is implementing the agricultural, livestock, and fishery product price stabilization measures announced at the livelihood economy inspection meeting presided over by President Yoon Seok-yeol on the 18th at the Nonghyup Hanaro Mart in Seocho-gu, Seoul. The key points include increasing the number of agricultural products supported for delivery price assistance from 13 to 21 items, expanding the support price per item up to twice as much, and temporarily raising the government discount support rate for agricultural products from 20% to 30%. By adding discounts from distribution companies, the government aims to help consumers purchase products at prices reduced by up to 40-50%.

Kim Byung-hwan, 1st Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance.

The day before, the government supplied about 2,000 tons of the initial batch of bananas and oranges directly imported at prices 20% lower than the market price. Starting with this, the government plans to expand the supply of directly imported fruits to 11 items.

Additionally, the government plans to increase the number of items subject to import fruit tariff quotas from 24 to 29 and expand the quota volume to cover the entire import quantity by promptly completing the revision of the tariff quota regulations (Presidential Decree), aiming to import additional quantities by next month.

Vice Minister Kim stated, "Regarding livestock and fishery products, we will take preemptive measures as prices may rise due to demand for outings in March." Discount events for Korean beef and pork will continue until the end of March, and the remaining 1,000 tons of the 30,000-ton tariff-reduced chicken import quota will be fully imported within this month.

For fishery products, in addition to releasing 600 tons of stockpiled major fish species (pollock, mackerel, squid, cutlassfish, croaker, dried anchovies), an additional 200 tons of squid will be directly listed in wholesale markets this week, and 200 tons of privately held squid stocks will also be released, significantly expanding supply.

Thanks to government efforts and others, prices of agricultural, livestock, and fishery products fell this week compared to the previous week. Prices of green onions, spinach, and strawberries, which had risen due to adverse weather in major production areas in February, declined, and although apple and pear prices remain higher than last year, they decreased compared to the previous week. Prices of livestock and fishery products such as beef, pork, and squid also showed an overall downward trend.

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