IBK Industrial Bank to Provide 1.5 Trillion Won in Financial Support for SMEs

IBK Industrial Bank is set to provide 1.5 trillion won in financial support aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The initiative seeks to assist small businesses that are often overlooked by policy measures while also promoting growth in future strategic industries.

The bank has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund and the Korea Technology Finance Corporation to expand inclusive and productive finance.

Under this agreement, IBK will allocate 500 billion won for inclusive finance and 992.5 billion won for productive finance. The contributions include 15.25 billion won for inclusive finance and 27 billion won for productive finance.

The inclusive finance support will target legal small businesses, startups that have graduated from incubation, traditional manufacturing firms, and companies undergoing business transitions. IBK plans to reduce loan interest rates by up to 1.3 percentage points and cover the full guarantee fee for the first year, along with 0.5% of the fee for the second year.

Productive finance will focus on new growth industries, promising startups, and companies that create jobs, including those in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, content creation, culture, defense, energy, and manufacturing. These businesses will also benefit from a maximum interest rate reduction of 1.3 percentage points, with a 0.5% guarantee fee support from the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund and 0.8% from the Korea Technology Finance Corporation for two years.

An IBK official stated, "This agreement is a comprehensive support measure for SMEs and future growth companies that are in policy blind spots. We aim to be a strong pillar to ensure that SMEs do not lose their growth momentum."