소상공인 새출발 희망 프로젝트“During the recession, I was barely able to survive by letting go of my employees and paying interest of around 10% per year, but I was able to switch to a lower interest rate.”
On the 3rd, as the government introduced the ‘New Start Hope Project’, a customized measure for small business owners and self-employed worth 25 trillion won, small business owners and self-employed people who were struggling with sluggish domestic demand amid high interest rates responded by saying, “We have to put out the fire in a hurry.”
The key to the customized support measures for small business owners announced by the government today is to alleviate the burden of five major fixed costs, including electricity and delivery fees. Previously, small business owners with annual sales of less than 30 million won were eligible for support, but the support was increased to 60 million won. Considering that the proportion of small business owners with annual sales of less than 50 million won is 34.6% as of 2022, nearly 4 out of 10 small business owners will receive electricity bill support of up to 200,000 won. Delivery fees for small restaurants are also supported. Specific support targets and methods will be decided during next year’s budget preparation process.
A ‘three-piece set of financial support for small business owners’ will also be implemented. The standard for extending the repayment of policy funds for more than 3 years of business and a loan balance of 30 million won or more will be eliminated, and the interest rate burden will also be lowered. The loan repayment period for small business owners using loans from the Regional Credit Guarantee Foundation will be extended by up to 5 years.
To ease the burden of labor costs, 6,000 automated smart devices such as kiosks and serving robots are supported. In order to alleviate the hiring shortage, non-professional employment (E-9) visas for foreigners will also be permitted to expand to regions and industries in the second half of this year. We will also strengthen recovery support, including debt adjustment, for small business owners who wish to liquidate their business. The ‘New Start Fund’ debt adjustment period to adjust accumulated debt will be extended from November of last year to June of this year, and the application deadline will also be extended to December 2026.
In addition, a new small business employment program will be established. To increase the incentive to participate in the program, a training participation allowance of 500,000 to 1.1 million won per month and an employment success allowance of up to 1.9 million won will be paid for up to 6 months.
