Application Rate for Livelihood Recovery Consumption Coupons Exceeds 95% in 18 Days... 8.7 Trillion Won Paid

[Financial News]   The application rate for the first round of livelihood recovery consumption coupons, which began on the 21st of last month, exceeded 95% in 18 days.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that as of 0:00 on the 8th, 95.2% of the total eligible applicants, or 48.18 million people, had applied, and 8.7232 trillion won had been paid.
The application rate by region was highest in Daegu at 96.17%, followed by Ulsan at 96.10% and Incheon at 95.95%.
In the metropolitan area, Seoul recorded 94.47% and Gyeonggi 95.05%.
The lowest application rate was in Jeju, at 93.75%.
By payment method, credit/debit cards accounted for the largest number with 33.697649 million people, followed by local love gift certificates (mobile/card) with 7.680447 million, prepaid cards with 5.702723 million, and paper local love gift certificates with 1.0936 million.
As of 24:00 on the 7th, 3.0404 trillion won (51.9%) out of 5.8608 trillion won paid via credit/debit cards had been used.
By region, card usage was highest in Jeju at 57.18%, followed by Incheon at 54.71%, Gwangju and Ulsan at 54.55%. Sejong was the lowest at 48.44%.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety is preparing to distribute the second round of livelihood recovery consumption coupons without any issues.
The second consumption coupon, which provides an additional 100,000 won per person to 90% of the population, will be available for application from the 22nd of next month until October 31.
Meanwhile, Nonghyup Hanaro Mart will be added as a place to use 'livelihood recovery consumption coupons' in rural areas.
This decision is in response to criticism that there are no suitable items to purchase with consumption coupons even if there are other marts or supermarkets in rural villages.
At a press conference related to consumption coupons held at the Government Complex Sejong, Han Sun-gi, Director of Local Finance and Economy at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, "People in island and mountainous areas find it quite inconvenient to use consumption coupons," adding, "Even if there are marts or supermarkets, they are too small to buy fresh foods like meat, vegetables, and fruits."
He also stated, "We will add Hanaro Mart as a place to use coupons in these areas as soon as possible."
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to respect the requests of mayors and county heads who are well aware of local conditions to add Hanaro Mart as a place to use coupons. The list of Hanaro Marts to be added will be organized and announced soon.
Currently, 5% of the total 2,208 designated Hanaro Marts, or 121 locations, are places where consumption coupons can be used. As the government has decided to accommodate the opinions of local government heads as much as possible, the number of Hanaro Marts where consumption coupons can be used in rural areas is expected to increase significantly.
Director Han explained that the use of consumption coupons in opticians or academies has led to a forward shift in consumption that would have been postponed, saying, "At the end of July, students are on vacation and it's the season to pay academy fees, so academy sales seemed to have increased. There are seasonal and temporal characteristics."




ktitk@fnnews.com Kim Tae-kyung Reporter