The government will directly inject fiscal resources into distribution channels such as delivery apps, gift certificates and agricultural wholesale in its 2027 budget plan. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the small business support budget will rise to 3.5 trillion won in 2027 from 2 trillion won in 2026. Of that, 124 billion won in support for discount coupons for a co-prosperity delivery app was newly budgeted. The programme will distribute 24 million coupons worth 5,000 won each. In agricultural distribution, the government will set up a public-private special purpose company (SPC) to establish public logistics centres and a distribution corporation.

The government on Monday approved the 2027 budget plan and the 2026 to 2030 national fiscal management plan at a cabinet meeting. The budget plan will be submitted to parliament on Wednesday. Total spending for 2027 is set at 820.9 trillion won, up 12.8 percent from the 2026 main budget of 727.9 trillion won. Of that, the budget for livelihood stability for small business owners, farmers and fishermen, and vulnerable workers will increase to 15.4 trillion won from 10 trillion won.

Fiscal injections into the distribution sector will be divided into three tracks: consumer coupons and gift certificates, and logistics infrastructure. The ministry presented expanding the sales base of small businesses and normalising distribution structures for agricultural, livestock and fisheries products as the purpose of the budget allocations.

The issuance scale of local love gift certificates and Onnuri gift certificates will increase to 30.1 trillion won from 29.5 trillion won. Central government support will rise to 1.83 trillion won from 1.61 trillion won. Local love gift certificates issuance will be 25.6 trillion won, and the central support rate will be revamped from a three-tier 3, 5 and 7 percent to a four-tier 3, 6, 8 and 9 percent. The discount rate for traditional markets on Digital Onnuri gift certificates will rise to 10 percent from 7 percent.

Support for traditional markets and commercial districts will also expand. The government will newly select 139 sites under a programme to foster markets and commercial districts by characteristics and themes, providing up to 5 billion won each. They include 3 “100-year markets”, 30 cultural tourism sites, 40 daily consumption sites, 6 glocal sites, 10 local theme sites and 50 promising alleys. A traditional market safety management package, including air conditioners to prepare for heatwaves, will expand to 340 sites from 80.

In distribution of agricultural, livestock and fisheries products, a structure with direct public participation will be introduced. The government allocated 11 billion won for 2027 to establish public logistics centres and a distribution corporation through a public-private SPC, with total project costs of 180 billion won. Tailored vouchers to revitalise online wholesale markets will increase to 3,300 from 2,000, and fisheries products will be added to supported items. Transaction and settlement funds will expand to 200 billion won from 100 billion won.

Price information and supply-demand management will also be reinforced. The government allocated 1.1 billion won to build a frugal-consumption app that provides real-time shopping basket price information. It will increase by 54.8 billion won funding for proactive supply-demand management for key items and introduce a price stabilisation scheme for 2 items. Another 1.6 billion won will be added to advance agricultural observation using drones and satellites.

◆Export vouchers for 10,893 firms... new K-food ingredients loans

Support will also be provided for items linked to consumer prices. The government will create 300 billion won in low-interest policy financing to improve laying-hen barns, and expand loans for purchasing fertiliser raw materials to 500 billion won from 200 billion won. The agri-food voucher programme will add domestically produced fisheries products to supported items, and the monthly support amount for one-person households will rise to 50,000 won from 40,000 won.

Export vouchers for small and medium-sized enterprises will increase to 313.7 billion won from 150.2 billion won, and the number of supported firms will expand to 10,893 from 7,789. It will support 5,000 firms under a basic type and 3,000 under a growth type. Firms supported under an overseas branch programme will rise to 5,661 from 4,384, and joint logistics centres will increase to 320 from 302.

In the food sector, the budget to foster global K-food will rise to 243.7 billion won from 88.8 billion won. The government will create 136 billion won in loans for overseas expansion of K-food ingredients to improve access to domestically produced food ingredients for overseas Korean restaurants.

Support for online sales channels and digital transformation will also expand. Consulting services, in which personnel who completed AI job training visit workplaces to help small businesses with AI and digital transformation, will be newly introduced at a scale of 8,000 cases. Follow-up linked promotion and branding support for the TOPS programme will increase to 60 firms from 30, and support that matches up to three times private investment, capped at 200 million won, will rise to 450 firms from 300.

The budget for small business safety nets will also increase. The financial support programme group will rise to 971.4 billion won from 168.1 billion won. Of that, 700 billion won was allocated for special debt restructuring for long-term delinquency among small business owners hit by COVID-19 and others. Health care support, including substitute labour costs for health checkups, was allocated 205 billion won to provide up to 100,000 won to 2,000,000 people. Childcare allowances for those not covered by employment insurance will be paid at 500,000 won a month for 3 months.