INCHEON — Incheon will provide 50.5 billion won ($36 million) in emergency liquidity to help local small business owners struggling with cash shortages ahead of the Chuseok holiday season.
The city has finalized the third phase of its 2026 Hope Incheon small business management stabilization fund program and will begin accepting applications at 9 a.m. on Sept. 17. The move follows the first phase, worth 100 billion won, and the second phase, worth 114.5 billion won, which together provided 214.5 billion won in support. The city decided to deploy third-phase funds to coincide with the period when holiday cash demand peaks. About 1,700 small businesses in the city are expected to benefit.
The program targets small enterprises and small business owners with operations in Incheon, including businesses hurt by the recent closure of Homeplus outlets. Loans are capped at 50 million won per business, with a one-year grace period followed by five years of installment repayment.
The city will also subsidize interest costs to ease the burden of high rates. It will cover 2.0% of annual interest in the first year of the loan and 1.5% annually for the following two years. The guarantee fee rate was set at 0.8% a year, 0.2 percentage points lower than that for standard guarantees, further reducing financing costs. Loans will be issued through seven partner banks: Shinhan, NongHyup, Hana, KB Kookmin, Woori, KakaoBank and K bank.
To distribute the limited funds efficiently, however, several categories are excluded: businesses that have already received the city's management stabilization funds this year, those that obtained a new guarantee from the credit guarantee foundation within the past three months, businesses with outstanding guarantees of 200 million won or more, and gambling and entertainment establishments.
Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis from Sept. 17 until the funds are exhausted, through Bojeung Dream, the mobile app of the Incheon Credit Guarantee Foundation. For those with limited digital access, including people aged 65 and over, people with disabilities and pregnant women, the foundation will also operate in-person application desks with appointments at local branches.
