NAMYANGJU — Namyangju, a city in Gyeonggi Province, is expanding financial support for local small business owners squeezed by an economic slowdown, high interest rates and weak domestic demand. The aim is to ease funding shortages for merchants who lack collateral and to stabilize household-level economic activity.
The city said on the 16th that it has allocated an additional 1 billion won in its second supplementary budget and will supply 10 billion won more in special credit guarantees for small business owners.
With the latest allocation, the city's cumulative contribution to the program this year rises to 3.1 billion won, expanding the total guarantee pool to 31 billion won. That is the second-largest program among the 31 cities and counties in Gyeonggi Province, after Hwaseong.
The special guarantee program allows small business owners who struggle to borrow from commercial banks because of weak credit or insufficient collateral to take out operating loans of up to 50 million won per business, backed by guarantees from the Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation.
Alongside the lending support, the city secured an additional 100 million won in the supplementary budget to subsidize part of the interest on the guaranteed loans, directly reducing borrowing costs. The city also said it would build on close cooperation with the Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation, which moved its headquarters to the city's Dasan-dong district in July this year, to strengthen the financial support base for local merchants.
"Small business owners are the roots of the local economy and its most important pillar," Namyangju Mayor Choi Hyun-duk said. "I hope this expanded supply of special guarantees will serve as rain in a drought for merchants who have fallen into despair over funding shortages." He added that the city would continue to pursue pre-emptive support measures to stabilize business operations and revive economic activity for ordinary households.
Details on applications and eligibility are available on the city's official website and through the Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation.