On the 13th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced a plan for additional supply of policy financing for small and medium enterprises and self-employed businesses, reflecting the first supplementary budget for the year 2025.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups noted that by adding the supplementary supply of 4.2 trillion won to this year's policy financing main budget supply scale of 26.5 trillion won, a total of 30.7 trillion won in policy financing will be provided to small and medium enterprises and self-employed businesses in 2025.
◇ Additional supply of 1.7 trillion won in policy financing for SMEs: "Response to U.S. tariffs and domestic consumption slump"
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups will provide an additional 1.7 trillion won in policy financing for small and medium enterprises to enhance their responsiveness to uncertainties both domestically and abroad, caused by U.S. tariff measures and the domestic consumption slump. This includes an urgent fund of 1 billion won for responding to trade risks, a stabilization fund of 3 billion won, and a support fund for new market entry of 1 billion won, totaling 5 billion won in policy funds for small and medium enterprises.
The urgent fund for responding to trade risks is a fund newly established this year to broadly support small and medium enterprises experiencing management difficulties among those engaged in sectors related to U.S. item tariffs or those with a high proportion of exports to the United States. Considering this is a temporary emergency fund, the repayment period for working capital is set to be 6 years, which is 1 year longer than other funds, and an additional 1-year extension of maturity is possible upon request from corporations. The loan interest rate will be applied at 0.3 percentage points lower than the benchmark interest rate for policy funds for small and medium enterprises.
The stabilization fund for urgent management has increased by 3 billion won to provide robust support for small and medium enterprises facing management difficulties due to domestic and foreign uncertainties or those affected by wildfires in Gyeongbuk and Gyeongnam. Working capital can be supported up to 1 billion won (15 million won within 3 years), and the loan interest rate will be increased by 0.5 percentage points over the benchmark interest rate for policy funds.
The new market entry support fund has increased by 1 billion won to enable small and medium enterprises to explore new market development or diversify export countries in the rapidly changing global trade environment. Working capital can be supported up to 1 billion won, and facility capital can be supported up to 3 billion won, with the loan interest rate applying to the benchmark interest rate for policy funds.
Through this supplementary budget, the Technology Guarantee Fund has established a special guarantee for overcoming crises due to changes in the trade environment, supporting companies that have been directly or indirectly harmed by U.S. tariff measures. This newly established special guarantee will provide liquidity of 1.2 trillion won quickly.
◇ Expansion of 2.5 trillion won in policy financing for self-employed businesses: "Support for livelihoods"
To more robustly expand the financial safety net for self-employed individuals who are in a financial blind spot in private finance, 2.5 trillion won in policy financing for self-employed businesses will be expanded. In order to support the management stabilization and growth of self-employed businesses, 5 billion won in policy funds, including 1.4 billion won for general management stabilization funds, 2.4 billion won for credit-vulnerable funds, and 1.2 billion won for innovative growth promotion funds, will be provided.
The general management stabilization fund is available for all self-employed individuals regardless of their years in operation. Working capital will be supplied through a proxy loan method via commercial banks, with an increase of 1.4 billion won compared to this year's main budget. The loan limit is a maximum of 70 million won over 5 years, and the loan interest rate will increase by 0.6 percentage points over the benchmark interest rate for policy funds for self-employed individuals.
The credit-vulnerable funds are support funds for self-employed individuals with difficulties in obtaining loans from financial institutions, and the amount has increased by 2.4 billion won compared to the main budget for the purpose of strengthening the financial safety net. The innovative growth promotion funds have increased by 1.2 billion won compared to the main budget, supporting the sustainable growth of self-employed individuals with high growth potential.
To alleviate management difficulties for self-employed individuals and support those affected by wildfires in Gyeongbuk and Gyeongnam, an additional 2 trillion won in new guarantees will be supplied to regional credit guarantee foundations. Adding this to the newly guaranteed supply of 12.2 trillion won in this year's main budget, a total of 14.2 trillion won in new guarantees will be provided for the recovery of livelihoods for self-employed individuals this year.