Attention is turning to whether the purchase discount on digital Onnuri gift vouchers, set to drop to 5% next year, will be raised again during the National Assembly's budget review. The government redesigned the program to lower the upfront discount and expand rebates based on where the vouchers are spent, aiming to concentrate benefits on traditional markets and regional commercial districts. But Lee So-young, minister of SMEs and startups, has said the upfront discount needs to be higher, raising the prospect of further discussion.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups said on the 4th that it is reviewing the possibility of raising the 5% upfront discount included in its recently announced overhaul of the Onnuri voucher program. The aim is to deliver greater benefits to merchants in traditional markets and neighborhood commercial districts.
The overhaul announced by the ministry on the 1st calls for cutting the purchase discount on digital Onnuri vouchers to 5% next year from the current 7%. In its place, rebate rates will vary by where the vouchers are actually used, with an additional 5% returned at traditional markets and 3% at neighborhood districts outside the Seoul metropolitan area. Total benefits will therefore be tiered at 10% for traditional markets, 8% for regional neighborhood districts and 5% for neighborhood districts in the capital area.
The lower upfront discount is intended to turn Onnuri vouchers from a simple discount instrument into a policy tool that channels spending toward traditional markets and regional areas. Previously, buyers received the same discount at the point of purchase regardless of where they spent the vouchers, making it difficult to steer spending to particular areas. The government decided to minimize the upfront discount and add rebates based on where spending actually occurs.
Of the 3.95 trillion won ($2.7 billion) in Onnuri vouchers spent last year, 2.6 trillion won, or 65%, went to traditional markets. Spending outside the capital area totaled 2.26 trillion won, or 57% of the total. The government plans to reinforce that pattern and focus the program's policy impact on traditional markets and vulnerable commercial districts outside Seoul.
The variable emerged after Lee gathered views from merchants and industry officials once details of the overhaul became known, and then said the upfront discount should be raised. In discussions over the plan, the minister is said to have argued that benefits from Onnuri vouchers should be expanded and that the purchase discount proposed at 5% should be lifted to strengthen the incentive to buy.
The difficulty is that raising the upfront discount requires securing additional funding. Next year's government budget proposal was built on the assumption of a 5% purchase discount, so lifting the rate by 1 to 2 percentage points would increase the discount subsidy budget in proportion to the volume of vouchers issued.
Because the minister raised the need for a higher discount rate at the stage of announcing the plan, observers say the chances of a discussion on increasing the related budget during the National Assembly review are greater than before. Still, setting the upfront discount too high could weaken the overhaul's purpose of tiering benefits by place of use to draw spending to traditional markets and regional areas. The final rate is expected to be decided with fiscal conditions and the rebate budget taken into account.
"Details such as the purchase ceiling for digital Onnuri vouchers next year have not been finalized," a ministry official said. "Since the minister has signaled a willingness to raise the discount rate, further discussion could take place during the National Assembly review."
