The government and the ruling People Power Party (PPP) have come to an agreement to give an additional 22 trillion won (US$16.7 billion) in financial aid to the export sector, bringing the total financial support to 63 trillion won. This follows the sharp decrease of the country’s exports, which dropped by 16.5 percent year-on-year to US$50.33 billion in July, the tenth consecutive month of decline.
Out of the 22 trillion won, 4.1 trillion won will be used for developing new export routes, and 17.9 trillion won will be allocated to strengthening the competitiveness of strategic export sectors. Rep. Park Dae-chul, the PPP’s chief policymaker, stated during a policy consultation meeting at the National Assembly that this measure is intended to empower banks by combining the resources of policy financial institutions and the private sector to provide funding support.
Furthermore, 1 trillion won worth of financial funding will be provided for subcontractors of major companies making inroads overseas through cooperation with state-run credit institutions and banks. Major lenders and policy financial institutions will also launch a program to extend special loans with an interest rate deduction of up to 1.5 percentage points for export firms.