Finance ministry defends supply chain fund as SME share holds near half

The finance ministry said Wednesday that its supply chain stabilization fund has steadily expanded financial support aimed at securing key economic security items such as crude oil, after a news report said large companies had received the bulk of the money.

In a statement responding to the Yonhap News Agency report, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said fund support approved so far this year reached 8.1 trillion won ($6.04 billion) as of the end of September, up from 7.1 trillion won ($5.3 billion) in 2025 and 2.1 trillion won ($1.57 billion) in 2024.

Large companies inevitably account for a high share by value because securing crude oil and other strategic items requires large amounts of capital, it said, but by number of approvals small and mid-sized companies make up about half. As of the end of September, large companies accounted for 51 percent of cumulative approvals, mid-sized firms 25 percent and small firms 24 percent.

The value going to large companies was pushed up this year by emergency oil purchase financing during the Middle East crisis in the first half.

"The supply chain stabilization fund has continued to expand financial support to respond to supply chain crises, and we will strengthen support for small and mid-sized companies going forward," the finance ministry said.

The ministry said it will make active use of the Supply Chain Win-Win Finance program introduced in May, under which the Export-Import Bank of Korea takes recommendations from large companies acting as lead buyers of partner small and mid-sized suppliers and provides funds linked to the supply and purchase of raw materials. Participating companies can receive an interest rate discount of up to 2.4 percentage points.