Party and Government "Electricity Bill Reduction of 200,000 Won for 1.26 Million Small Business Owners"

The People Power Party and the government will support a reduction in electricity bills totaling 252 billion KRW by providing 200,000 KRW per business to 1.26 million small business owners in the first quarter of this year. Through win-win financing and fiscal support, they will reduce the interest burden on self-employed individuals and small business owners by approximately 2.3 trillion KRW. The income deduction rate for traditional markets will be increased from the existing 40% to 80% for the first half of this year.

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On the 3rd, at the '2024 Economic Policy Direction Party-Government Council' held at the National Assembly, the ruling party and government announced this after reviewing the contents to be included in the government's new year economic policy direction. Yoo Ui-dong, the Policy Committee Chair of the People Power Party, emphasized, "Although economic indicators are gradually recovering, the felt economy shows little sign of improvement," adding, "We will discuss ways to reduce the burden caused by food prices and how to address the difficulties faced by self-employed individuals and small business owners."

In particular, they decided to promote measures to support corporate investment, which is a fundamental pillar of economic revitalization, so that it does not shrink. Chair Yoo said, "The government has decided to extend the temporary investment tax credit for facility investments, which ended at the end of last year, for one more year until the end of this year," and added, "We agreed on reforming the preliminary feasibility study system to focus on challenging performance-oriented R&D while decisively eradicating the practice of distributing R&D budgets indiscriminately." They will also strengthen measures to respond to the real estate project financing (PF) crisis. Chair Yoo explained, "We will induce an orderly soft landing through liquidity support while promoting fundamental institutional improvements to prevent the recurrence of the real estate PF crisis."

Yoon Jae-ok, Floor Leader of the People Power Party, and Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, along with other attendees, are taking a commemorative photo at the 2024 Economic Policy Direction Party-Government Consultation held at the National Assembly on the 3rd. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

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Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, stated, "The government has set the goal of the 2024 economic policy direction as a vibrant livelihood economy and intends to operate with a focus on four directions: recovery of the livelihood economy, management of latent risks, realization of a dynamic economy, and accompaniment of future generations." He added, "However, there are limits to overcoming livelihood difficulties and fundamentally improving structural problems through government efforts alone," emphasizing communication by saying, "The fundamental economic policy direction includes a considerable number of legislative tasks, so close cooperation with the party is more essential than ever."

Ministers of various departments also introduced specific economic policy contents for livelihood stabilization this year. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has set a plan to usher in an era of 20 million foreign tourists. Yoo In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, explained, "First, we will expand the number of travel days to twice a year and expand accommodation coupons and worker vacation support projects to make it easier for citizens to travel to local areas," adding, "For the era of 20 million foreign tourists, we will coordinate with related ministries such as the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to improve visa systems and address issues related to accommodation and transportation convenience."

Park Sang-woo, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, announced that they will simplify procedures for redevelopment and reconstruction projects to strengthen support for the rapid supply of sufficient housing in urban areas. Minister Park said, "Since the Special Act on Old Planned Cities, targeting first-generation new towns, will be fully implemented in April this year, we will thoroughly prepare even before the law takes effect to ensure that projects can proceed with a sense of speed."

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