Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok listens to the voices of Hongdae street merchants

On January 1, Choi visited merchants on Hongdae streets and held a meeting with them to hear about the state of the economy and their pain points. He pledged to strengthen policy efforts to reduce the burden on small businesses, and emphasized that the budget for small business support in 2024 is 5.1 trillion won (based on the exhaustion fund), an increase of about 1 trillion won from the previous year, reflecting a budget of 252 billion won to reduce electricity bills (200,000 won per person) for about 1.26 million small businesses, with plans to start applying the reduction in the first quarter of this year. He said that last year, the banking sector announced that it would provide 2 trillion won in interest refund support to small businesses, and the government plans to raise about 300 billion won in fiscal resources to provide a certain amount of interest reduction for small business borrowers using non-banking institutions. 

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance's 22 college student reporters end their activities of 2023

The Ministry of Strategy and Finance's 22 college student reporters ended their activities of 2023. Twenty-two university students wrote a total of 210 articles, covering topics such as major policies and economic issues announced by the ministry, as well as going out to cover major events and policies. The article was published through the ministry's social media channels and has received 830,000 views to date. Student reporters were awarded certificates and two outstanding reporters were recognized by the Deputy Prime Minister. Vice Minister Kim Byeong-hwan said. “I am grateful for the great contribution, both quantitatively and qualitatively, to promoting the ministry through various activities over the past year. I hope they will continue to actively provide advice for the ministry to communicate with the public.”