The following are key measures from the government's economy management plan to be carried out by newly inaugurated Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan. The plan mostly focuses on boosting domestic demand, stabilizing people's livelihoods and reforming the country's economic structure.
Expansionary macroeconomic policy
- Injects 40.7 trillion won in fiscal and financial support to boost economic recovery
- Strengthens fiscal support by 11.7 trillion won during the second half
- Expands policy financing support for small- and medium-sized companies through state-run banks by 10 trillion won
- Draws up a budget for 2015 as expansionary as possible to support economic recovery
- Improves regulations on foreign currency transactions (July)
Household income
- Plans to introduce tax schemes aimed at encouraging companies to spend a certain ratio of their profits on employment and investment
- Plans to encourage companies to hike salaries of their workers through tax incentives
- Plans to draw up measures aimed at encouraging companies to pay out dividends to investors (August)
- Expands income deductions on check cards and cash receipts
- Extends tax deductions on credit card spending by two years
Corporate investment
- Pursues large-scale infrastructure construction led by private investors
- Raises lending through the foreign currency stabilization fund to businesses to $15 billion from US$10 billion
- Improves systems to make business inheritance easier for small companies
Housing market and household debt
- Adjusts the loan-to-value ceiling to a uniform rate of 70 percent
- Adjusts the debt-to-income ceiling to a uniform rate of 60 percent
Livelihood
- Stabilizes prices to help people in their daily lives and strengthens the distribution structure for widely consumed goods
- Draws up measures to stimulate competition in communications sector and lower the burden from communication fees (November)
Extra measures
- Provides support for companies to turn irregular workers into regular employees by picking up salary increases
- Pushes for strong reform of the debt-ridden public sector
- Nurtures tourism, medical and other promising service sector businesses
(Yonhap)
rene@heraldcorp.com
