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SEOUL, Oct 1 Asia Pulse - South Korea's financial watchdog said Wednesday the government will extend liquidity of about 4.3 trillion won (US$3.56 billion) to smaller firms in a bid to help them ease cash shortages.
"The government plans to provide liquidity to smaller companies by expanding state-owned lenders' funds or the central bank's loans to commercial banks, and will increase credit guarantees by 4 trillion won," the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said in a statement after meeting with party policymakers.
The move is designed to facilitate local banks' roles in providing funds to smaller companies by giving incentives to commercial lenders.
According to the plan, banks would put smaller companies into four categories according to their financial soundness under the watchdog's guidelines, and liquidity would be provided only to the upper two groups, one of which suffers from temporary cash shortages. The program will be implemented until June 2009, the FSC said.
The move came as South Korean small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have felt more pinched amid sluggish domestic demand and global financial turmoil.
According to the Bank of Korea, the growth of South Korean bank loans to companies slowed sharply in August as lenders, ...