Sejong City and IBK Industrial Bank of Korea Sign Agreement to Strengthen Financial Support for SMEs

Guarantee Fee Rates Reduced by Up to 1.2 Percentage Points

On September 18, Sejong City announced that it had signed a "Companion Support Agreement Loan Financial Business Agreement" with IBK Industrial Bank of Korea to alleviate funding difficulties for local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to strengthen their access to financial services.

Going forward, companies seeking to participate in the "SME Management Stability Fund Support Project" backed by the city will be able to reduce their guarantee fees when securing collateral loans using a Companion Support Agreement Guarantee Certificate.

IBK Industrial Bank of Korea will lower guarantee fee rates by up to 1.2 percentage points, while the city will subsidize the interest rate difference, significantly easing the financial burden on local businesses.

In particular, the city plans to operate a total of 32 billion won in management stability funds out of the 55 billion won allocated for the 2025 SME Development Fund, increasing the management stability fund by 6 billion won from the previous 26 billion won.

Meanwhile, in April, the city signed a preferential interest rate support agreement with Hana Bank to provide businesses with a preferential interest rate (a reduction of 0.8 percentage points) and guarantee fee reduction benefits.

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