SEMAS Chief: "Actively Discussing" Interest Rate Cuts for Emergency Funds for Homeplus Vendors

In Tae-yeon, Chairman of the Small Enterprise and Market Service (SEMAS), said today (October 15) that the agency is actively discussing additional interest rate cuts for emergency funds provided to vendors operating inside Homeplus stores.

Chairman In made the remarks during a parliamentary audit of organizations affiliated with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups held by the National Assembly's Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs, and Startups Committee, in response to a related inquiry by People Power Party lawmaker Cho Ji-yeon.

In response to criticisms that the utilization rate of policy funds was low, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups lowered loan interest rates starting in July.

Based on the third quarter (July–September), the interest rate for the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) was lowered from 3.78% to 3.28% per annum, and the SEMAS rate from 3.85% to 3.35%.

However, as deposit rates have recently risen, the rates have increased since the beginning of this month.

Lawmaker Cho pointed out that support for companies affected by Homeplus should be strengthened, considering that the emergency management stability fund applied to small and medium-sized enterprises affected by the 2024 Timon-Wemakep (T메프) crisis had a fixed interest rate of 2.5% per annum.

In response, Chairman In stated, "I agree," adding, "We are actively discussing rate cuts."

Previously, Minister of SMEs and Startups Lee So-young stated on October 7 that she would actively review lowering the interest rates on policy funds supporting Homeplus suppliers and vendors to the level seen during the Timon-Wemakep crisis.

As of the end of last month, the scale of direct loans executed by SEMAS and KOSME for Homeplus vendors stood at 12.5 billion won (25%) and 13.1 billion won (33%), respectively.

(Photo provided by the Chairman of the Small Enterprise and Market Service, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.