KB Kookmin Bank said on Thursday it signed the "business agreement on financial support to expand productive finance and restore growth" and the "business agreement on financial support to expand region-specific productive finance and restore growth" with the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund.

Under the agreements, KB Kookmin Bank will make a 17 billion won special contribution to the fund and, based on it, plans to supply 600 billion won in guarantee-backed secured loans.

The support structure is divided into a general agreement and a region-specific agreement. The general agreement targets companies in new growth engine industries, promising start-ups, exporters and companies expanding overseas.

The region-specific agreement focuses on companies located outside the Seoul metropolitan area and includes those in new growth engine industries and regional key industries. Eligible firms also include those supported by KB ESG Consulting, tenants at the KB Innovation Hub Center and companies participating in the KB Goodjob job fair.

Under the financial support terms, companies covered by the general agreement can receive either preferential treatment of a 100 percent guarantee ratio for 3 years or guarantee fee support totalling 1.0 percentage points over 2 years, at 0.5 percentage points per year. Companies covered by the region-specific agreement can receive either preferential treatment of a 100 percent guarantee ratio for 3 years or guarantee fee support totalling 1.8 percentage points over 3 years, at 0.6 percentage points per year.

A KB Kookmin Bank official said the agreements would improve funding conditions for small and medium-sized companies and could also contribute to balanced regional development. The official said the bank would continue to expand support for productive finance.