사진 확대

Six out of 10 small business owners in the alley area predicted that the economy would worsen in the second half of this year.

In a survey of 505 small business owners in the alley area by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Businesses on the 16th, 59.8% of small business owners predicted that the economy would deteriorate in the second half of this year. Compared to the second half of last year, 63.6% of the respondents said that the overall business economy in the first half of this year worsened.

As a result of comparing the first half of this year and the second half of this year, the forecast figure for the second half improved slightly from the first half of the year, but the worsening response was still dominant. By sector, the outlook for the second half of the year was 58.4% (62.4% in the first half), 59.4% (62.7% in the first half), 59.8% (63.1% in the first half), 58.8% (62.3% in the first half), and 44.1% (46.6% in the first half) in the number of online platform orders.

According to the sales forecast by industry in the second half of the year, the outlook for deteriorating sales in laundry and hair salons (72.7%), real estate agencies (70.0%), academies (68.0%), and pubs and cart bars (63.3%) is higher than the overall forecast of deteriorating sales (59.4%), indicating that there are relatively high concerns about economic deterioration in the second half of the year.

In the case of the restaurant industry, Hope, Pub, and Pocha (63.3%) and General Restaurants (56.0%) have high prospects for sales "worsening," while Cafe and Bakery (41.2%) had the lowest response to sales "worsening," so the economic outlook was mixed.

The reasons for the negative outlook on the economy in the second half of the year were a decrease in consumption capacity (60.9%) due to a decline in real income, and an increase in operating costs such as raw material costs, rent, and labor costs (23.5%).

65.7% cited expanding tax benefits for small business owners as a policy (multiple responses) that the government should pursue to revitalize alley areas. Next, the survey was conducted in order to reduce the burden of energy costs such as electricity and gas charges (52.1%), financial support such as expanding policy funds and guarantees for small business owners (43.6%), extend loan maturity and reduce principal and interest repayment burden (31.7%), and promote consumption policies such as consumption coupons and travel support payments (20.2%).

Kim Hee-joong, head of the economic policy division of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, said, "Currently, small business owners have a higher demand for policies to expand tax benefits or reduce the burden of energy costs than to expand policy funds," adding, "As there are differences in the content of policy support needed by each industry, customized policies that reflect the business environment and characteristics of each industry should be promoted."