Incheon restarts local currency program with 17 trillion won supplementary budget

Incheon City has announced a second supplementary budget totaling 17.02 trillion won, a 7.3% increase from its initial budget. A key focus of this supplementary budget is the revival of the Incheon I-eum card, a local currency program that was halted in July due to insufficient funds. The city plans to allocate 77.9 billion won to reinstate the card's cashback feature, offering a 10% rebate for eligible merchants and cardholders.

Under the reinstated program, cardholders can receive up to a 10% cashback on monthly purchases up to 500,000 won. This limit will be temporarily raised to 1 million won for purchases made between September 21 and September 30, encompassing the Chuseok holiday period. "We have decided on a size that the finances can afford and the effects can continue, so that the situation where Incheon I-eum runs out and stops after half a year is not repeated," stated Incheon Mayor Park Nam-chun. He assured that the cashback program would be implemented immediately upon the city council's approval of the supplementary budget.

The budget also includes allocations for other social welfare initiatives, such as 12.7 billion won for programs supporting pregnancy, childbirth, and early childcare, 27.9 billion won for transportation cost relief, and 6.6 billion won for the Incheon I-Bada Pass. These urgent public welfare projects total 287 billion won.

Funding for the increased budget was secured through a significant restructuring of expenditures, amounting to 211.4 billion won, along with an increase in national subsidies (287.4 billion won), non-tax revenue (374 billion won), and remaining integrated management funds (80 billion won). However, the city has not yet allocated 350 billion won in legally mandated and rigid expenses, including transfers to the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education and grants to district offices. The city plans to address these in a year-end supplementary budget or the next fiscal year's main budget, despite the expectation of these funds being received this year by the education office and district offices.

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We have decided on a size that the finances can afford and the effects can continue, so that the situation where Incheon I-eum runs out and stops after half a year is not repeated. As citizens have waited for a long time, the Incheon I-eum cashback will be implemented immediately once the supplementary budget passes the city council.