Gyeonggi Province to Provide Up to 20 Million Won Under 'Small Business COVID-19 Relief Account' in 2022

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hoon] Gyeonggi Province announced that it has decided to continue providing the 'Gyeonggi Small Business COVID-19 Relief Account,' its representative economic quarantine measure against COVID-19, this year, and will implement it in full from the 24th of this month.

This project is a 'minus loan special guarantee' introduced for the first time among local governments in the country, aimed at becoming a strong support for small business owners facing economic crisis due to COVID-19.

As a result of expanded operations conducted twice last year, approximately 30,000 small business owners received 400 billion won in guarantees, providing liquidity and capital circulation while demonstrating effectiveness in overcoming disasters.

Given that small business owners' concerns have deepened as COVID-19 continues due to the spread of the Omicron variant and the Bank of Korea's rate hike, the province has decided to continue support with the same guarantee and loan conditions as the previous year.

Eligible applicants are small business owners operating in the province (excluding corporations) whose representatives are mid-to-low credit holders (previously credit rating grade 4 or below), low-income earners (80% or less of median income for a four-person household), or socially disadvantaged individuals (40s and 50s retirees/unemployed heads of household, North Korean defectors, persons with disabilities, single-parent families, multicultural families, large families, basic livelihood security recipients, lower-middle-income recipients, high-interest finance users, young business restart entrepreneurs aged 39 or younger). However, those with financial transaction restrictions or those who received loans from the same project last year are excluded.

The loan limit per business is up to 20 million won (differentiated by credit rating), and the initial loan term is one year. The loan interest rate can be chosen between a three-month variable rate (base rate + 1.92%) and a one-year fixed rate (base rate + 1.92%).

While conventional Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee guarantees require guarantee fees of around 1% per annum, Gyeonggi Province covers the full guarantee fee to aid recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
In particular, to alleviate psychological burden from repayment, the loan term can be extended in one-year increments up to four times, allowing up to five years of full guarantee fee waiver.

The total support scale is 200 billion won, and it is anticipated that at least 10,000 small businesses in the province will benefit from this support.

Loans can be obtained from 'NH Nonghyup Bank' with which the province has signed an agreement starting the 24th, and applications will be accepted under a five-day rotating system based on birth year to prevent COVID-19 spread.

Those born in years ending in 1 or 6 can apply on Mondays, 2 or 7 on Tuesdays, 3 or 8 on Wednesdays, 4 or 9 on Thursdays, and 5 or 0 on Fridays. For example, someone born in 1981 can apply on Mondays.

Kim Sang-soo, director of the Regional Finance Division, said, "As many small business owners face livelihood threats due to prolonged COVID-19 including Omicron spread and the local economy takes a hit, this is the time to make an all-out effort in economic recovery," adding, "We will continue to make bold and preemptive measures to ease the burdens on people's livelihoods."

Detailed consultations are available through 25 branches of Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation (customer service hotline ☎1577-5900), and consultations and applications can be made through 154 business branches and 61 satellite offices of NH Nonghyup Bank in the province (customer satisfaction center ☎1661-3000, 1522-3000).