The government will freeze public utility fees such as electricity, gas, and railways during the first half of the year, and provide more than 400 billion won in rapid support to areas severely affected by wildfires. The necessity of supplementary budgets has also been emphasized once again.
Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, stated during a ministerial meeting on economic relations held at the Government Seoul Complex on the 2nd, “We will absorb price increase factors as much as possible through cost reduction and self-help efforts to freeze public utility fees managed by central ministries, such as electricity, gas, and railways, during the first half of the year.”
This is interpreted as the government presenting a clear direction regarding recent discussions on Korex's high-speed railway (KTX) fare increase. Deputy Prime Minister Choi noted, “We will actively consult with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety regarding local government public utility fees.”
During the meeting, support measures for farms affected by recent wildfires were also discussed. Deputy Prime Minister Choi explained, “We will utilize existing budgets to provide over 400 billion won for equipment and facility restoration, feed purchases, and emergency living stabilization funds.” He added that disaster recovery costs and disaster relief funds for crops and livestock will be provided immediately after the completion of the damage assessment, and that insurance payments will be advanced by 50% if the affected farms wish.
He continued, “We will supply lost agricultural machinery and materials for free or at discounted rates, and will reduce or defer taxes, electricity and telecommunications charges, and social insurance premiums.” The policy includes reviewing additional financial inputs for areas lacking support, such as stabilizing agricultural product supply according to the scale of the damage.
The necessity of preparing a supplementary budget was also emphasized again. Deputy Prime Minister Choi said, “Despite difficult domestic and foreign conditions, the 'clock of the economy' is still ticking rapidly. Accordingly, the government has proposed a 'necessary supplementary budget' of 10 trillion won to resolve urgent current issues. I hope the supplementary budget discussions will proceed swiftly so that assistance necessary for overcoming the crisis can be delivered in a timely manner.”
The stabilization of prices will also be maintained. Deputy Prime Minister Choi stated, “We will inject an additional 30 billion won into discount support for agricultural, livestock, and marine products during April and May, and supply more than 100 tons of napa cabbage and radishes to the market daily to stabilize supply.” He added, “We will lower the price burden of food raw materials through new allocated tariffs on raw pork and processed egg products.”
The government will also accelerate improvements to the distribution structure of agricultural and marine products. It will introduce new methods such as long-term contract transactions in online wholesale markets and support logistics costs for direct deliveries from production areas to consumers. Monitoring will be strengthened against price increases through 'shrinkflation' and other loopholes. The government intends to respond vigorously to price increases through collusion in closely related sectors such as food and dining.
A policy finance platform for small businesses and medium enterprises will also be activated. Starting from the 4th, the 'Integrated Policy Finance Platform' will allow users to search for over 400 financial products from nine policy finance institutions in one place.
During the meeting, reports were also shared on ▲ the promotion of agricultural and marine product distribution structure improvements, ▲ strengthening monitoring of closely related sectors and systemic improvements, ▲ development plans for the animal medicine industry, and ▲ the progress of the integration of the policy finance platform.