Daegu SME loan delinquency rises amid regional economic concerns

During a recent audit of the Daegu Regional Tax Office and the Bank of Korea's Daegu-Gyeongbuk branch, Representative Tae-ho Jeong highlighted economic concerns regarding small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region. He noted that the delinquency rate for SME loans in Daegu stands at 1.16%, which is 0.25 percentage points higher than the national average of 0.91%.

Regarding tax revenue, the Daegu Regional Tax Office reported an 8.9% increase through August compared to the previous year. The office attributed this growth primarily to increases in earned income tax due to rising nominal wages and corporate taxes from specific companies, rather than tax investigations.

Representative Jeong called for more flexible tax administration and financial support tailored to local economic conditions to reduce the burden on SMEs. Additionally, discussions regarding the Bank of Korea's support programs indicated a need to re-evaluate the scale of financial aid to better reflect the actual capital demands of regional businesses and to foster future growth industries, such as robotics.