The South Korea Financial Services Commission reviewed the financial sector’s implementation of the government’s productive finance shift, reporting KRW272.3 trillion supplied by the end of July 2026. Five-year support plans from private and policy financial institutions have increased by KRW310 trillion from the KRW1,250 trillion announced in July to KRW1,560 trillion, comprising KRW628 trillion from private finance and KRW932 trillion from policy finance, as existing plans expanded and more institutions joined. Financial groups, securities firms, insurers and policy banks outlined changes to embed productive finance in governance, performance metrics, underwriting and risk controls. Funding is being directed toward strategic and growth industries, venture capital, infrastructure and regional companies. The National Growth Fund had approved KRW17.9 trillion by the end of August, equal to 60% of its KRW30 trillion 2026 target, including KRW7.22 trillion for regional companies. This implementation phase follows earlier bank and insurer capital-rule changes intended to create up to KRW98.7 trillion of additional lending and investment capacity for productive sectors. To make outcomes more transparent and prevent conventional collateral- or guarantee-based financing from merely being relabeled, firms plan to publish productive finance white papers around December 2026 and annual reports around May 2027. The commission also plans a liability exemption framework for productive finance after seeking industry views, building on the investment and lending exemptions introduced in March 2026 for institutions participating in the National Growth Fund.

Original source