Koo Yun-cheol: "Government to release urea and diesel exhaust fluid reserves for vehicles from the 22nd"

[Financial News] Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol said on the 16th (local time), "We will release the government’s public reserves of urea and diesel exhaust fluid for vehicles at the end of this month."
Presiding over a meeting of the Emergency Economic Headquarters in Washington, D.C. that day, Koo explained, "Stocks of urea and diesel exhaust fluid for vehicles are sufficient for about three months, but this measure is intended to preemptively address inventory imbalances among companies." Koo is visiting the United States to attend the Group of Twenty (G20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting.
On the same day, the Public Procurement Service (PPS) announced its plan to release urea and diesel exhaust fluid for vehicles and said the reserves will be released from the 22nd to the 27th.
The meeting also reviewed the macroeconomic situation and inflation, the responses of each ministry to the war in the Middle East, and measures to ensure the safe passage of Korean vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.
Koo stated, "High oil prices and other inflationary pressures, supply chain disruptions, and uncertainty in financial markets are impacting our economy through multiple channels," adding, "Until the end of the war becomes clear, we will firmly maintain the emergency economic response system and actively address supply chain issues and difficulties in people’s livelihoods."
In this context, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently lowered its forecast for global economic growth this year from 3.3% to 3.1%. The growth forecast for Korea was kept unchanged at 1.9%.
Economic authorities are making all-out efforts to resolve the supply chain crisis.
The government plans to swiftly resolve bottlenecks reported through the nationwide supply chain hotline by using regulatory exemptions and proactive administration. From the 6th to the 15th, 78 suggestions were received.
The government is already implementing measures such as easing the time limits on adjusting public contract prices in response to rising raw material costs, extending contract periods and waiving delay penalties, and exempting the forfeiture of contract guarantees as local tax revenue. It is also seeking to defer payment of customs duties and value-added tax for up to nine months for oil-importing refiners, subject to approval by customs authorities.
Since the 15th, the government has enforced a ban on hoarding and emergency supply-and-demand adjustment measures for seven basic petrochemical feedstocks.
At the same time, the government is strengthening international cooperation to secure supplies of key items such as crude oil and naphtha and to stabilize supply chains. It is actively supporting Korean vessels so they can pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz by providing navigation information and operating a 24-hour technical support system.
The government will also swiftly execute the 26.2 trillion won supplementary budget that passed the National Assembly.
Koo said, "We will do our utmost to ensure that at least 85% of the 10.5 trillion won subject to expedited execution, including support payments for damage from high oil prices to be paid from the 27th, is spent within the first half of the year."

skjung@fnnews.com Jung Sang-geun Reporter