Hong Nam-ki "Resume in consultation with domestic consumption measures such as consumption coupons"

Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki and Minister of Strategy and Finance announced on the 16th that in consultation with the quarantine authorities, they will resume the eight major consumption coupon policies that have been suspended.

Deputy Prime Minister Hong held the 18th Emergency Economy Central Countermeasure Headquarters Meeting at the Seoul Government Complex on the same day and said, "We are seeking to resume the promotion of domestic vitality packages linked to consumption coupons."

Deputy Prime Minister Hong said, “The eight major consumption coupons that were suspended due to the re-proliferation of Coronavirus Infectious Disease-19 (Corona 19) were discussed with the quarantine authorities, and issues such as resuming timing, promotion of events, and supplementation of quarantine were discussed. We will check it and then move on.”

He said, "We will also promote domestic vitality packages for each sector such as dining out, tourism, culture, such as the Korea Sale Festa held from November 1 to 15, and consumption events in small and medium-sized businesses and traditional markets on Christmas occasions."

Earlier, the government has provided some coupons that can be used in eight fields, such as accommodation, tourism, performances, movies, exhibitions, sports, dining out, and agricultural and fishery products from August, but has stopped re-proliferation of Corona 19.

The government took out a consumption coupon card again with the intention of further spurring domestic consumption and consumption while social distancing was adjusted to the first stage due to the easing of the corona19 spread.

A look at the September consumption breaking indicator shows that various figures that had collapsed in early September when social distancing was upgraded to 2.5 steps rebounded again after mid-mid when distancing was eased.

Card approval amount decreased in the 1st week (-2.2%) and 2nd week (-7.0%) of September from the same period of the previous year, but increased in the 3rd week (5.1%), 4th week (5.2%) and 5th week (3.6%). .

In the first week of October, it was down 0.3%.

By category, the approval amount for food cards is September 1st (-28.4%), 2nd (-25.3%), 3rd (-13.5%), 4th (-13.4%), and 5th (-7.4%) week. It decreased, but the amount of decline decreased.

The first week of October was -11.9%.

The government plans to reinforce all-round policy responses such as consumption coupons in order to lead the economic recovery in the fourth quarter by utilizing the spark of a consumption rebound.

In addition to consumption coupons, we plan to implement policies such as Korea Sale Festa, Christmas Market Consumption Event, Korea Fisheries Festival, revitalization of workers' vacation support business, K-culture festival, and sports viewing.

The government is also paying attention to difficulties in the job market, such as the widening decline in the number of employed.

Deputy Prime Minister Hong said, "The number of employed in September decreased by 392,000 compared to the same month last year, and the decrease in the number of employed gradually improved since May." “It is because consumption in September decreased and the employment shock intensified.”

"As the social distancing has eased to the first stage, it is necessary to increase the driving force for economic and employment improvement," he said. "As the Corona 19 crisis hit the service industry, recovery of domestic demand such as consumption is very important for employment to live." I said.

The government is looking for the cause of the sluggish employment from structural factors such as the re-proliferation of Corona 19, a decrease in the working age population, and continued sluggishness in some industries such as manufacturing.

Employment is expected to gradually improve in the future due to the easing of distancing.

Accordingly, the government decided to quickly implement employment-related measures such as the 4th supplementary budget (additional budget) and lay the foundation for the phased expansion of all national employment insurance.

By the end of the year, the company plans to increase the execution rate of public sector job projects by promoting additional employment of 10,000 or more direct jobs by the end of the year, easing the standards for non-face-to-face and digital job participation, and completing the process of selecting 36,000 public officials by the end of the year.

The employment maintenance support period will be extended to 240 days, and special employment support sectors will be given preferential support until March next year.

A roadmap for resolving blind spots in employment insurance, including plans to expand employment insurance and establish a system for identifying income information by target, will be established within this year.

A pan-government task force to protect essential workers, such as caring services, parcel delivery, and health care, is also planned to come up with support plans within this year.

(Photo = Yonhap News)