The low-interest rate program for low-income earners and small businesses will be expanded to provide benefits to more people and businesses, the financial regulator said Wednesday.
The program, launched September 2022, currently provides low-interest loans to those who had taken out loans prior to June 2023 at an annual rate of 7 percent or higher, according to the Financial Services Commission (FSC).
It will be expanded to include those who take out such loans before Monday.
Those who quality for the low-interest rate loans will be allowed to switch their existing loans for up to 100 million won (US$76,000), while small businesses will be allowed to switch up to 200 million won of their existing loans.
Also, the rate of the loans will be further lowered to 5 percent from the current 5.5 percent for the first 12 months, while the borrowers will be exempted from the 0.7 percent guarantee fee.
“This will ease the burden of low-interest rate loan users by a maximum of 1.2 percentage points. This is part o
f an effort by the banking sector to additionally support small business owners and others who are facing difficulties due to high interest rates,” the FSC said in a press release.
Source: Yonhap News Agency