Vulnerable Korean borrowers receive $351.89 mn in benefits

[Image source: Gettyimagesbank]

Amid high interest rates and an economic downturn, over 1.74 million South Koreans have benefited from the “win-win financing measures” promoted by the government and the financial sector since the beginning of 2023, which include reducing interest rates and fees or extending loan terms. The actual amount these individuals saved through the end of August was 470 billion won ($351.89 million), which is expected to rise to 1.14 trillion won for the entire year.

South Korea’s financial authorities and industry on Sunday reaffirmed their commitment to implement such “win-win financing measures” early on and to establish a system for their continuous implementation going forward. When the 470 billion won already executed is retroactively considered, the total amount executed to date is 63.9 trillion won.

Earlier, Financial Services Commission (FSC) Chairman Kim Joo-hyun said that the organization aims to promote the co-growth of the public and the financial sector by alleviating their economic difficulties while explaining the significance of win-win finance. He also expects to be able to manage asset soundness by preventing loan delinquency and insolvency as well as ensure the sustained stable growth of financial institutions and previously asked the financial industry to take an active role in supporting win-win finance.

Shinhan, Woori, and Hana banks have set up dedicated teams for win-win finance to proactively find solutions to this end. The Financial Supervisory Service is encouraging the development of win-win and cooperative financial products with a particular focus on ensuring that consumers are aware of and can access these benefits via competitions and the Korea Federation of Banks added a section on its website to provide information on major win-win financial products. With these efforts, the authorities and the financial sector plan to continue collaborating to promote win-win finance.