사진 확대

While the Lee Jae Myung government has actively canceled debt for vulnerable borrowers, it is rare for the government to create a separate fund and periodically incinerate personal debt in major overseas countries.

According to the financial industry on the 15th, the financial authorities are considering additional measures in accordance with the policy of supporting the resumption of long-term delinquent debtors.

Earlier, President Lee Jae Myung said in a report to the Financial Services Commission on the 15th of last month, "Strangely, our country is harshly strict about canceling debt," adding, "It is very basic for Western society to settle long-term overdue debts of five and 10 years."

It is judged that the overall utility of society is also greater to help return to normal taxpayers and consumers by boldly clearing up debts of long-term delinquents who cannot open accounts and cards. In this context, the government created a new leap forward fund to buy personal bonds worth less than 50 million won, which have been overdue for more than seven years.

However, although the government is making drastic debt relief efforts, it is known that it is rare for major developed countries to implement policies that raise funds and regularly write off debts.

In 2010, after the financial crisis, the Obama administration supported borrowers in crisis through the Mortgage Adjustment Program (HAMP), but financial institutions provided interest rate cuts or extensions.

Of course, some point out that it is difficult to put Korea and overseas on the same line. After the 1997 financial crisis, as financial institutions' slimming work progressed, the debt collection function was entrusted to the loan business.

Since then, a structure has been formed in which the loan sector has purchased a large number of bad loans (NPLs) from financial companies and made profits through them, and in the process, the special practice of extending the current mechanical extinctive prescription and long-term collection has become fixed.

As the government-led debt reduction program has already been operated three times, some say that financial companies should design an incentive structure to manage themselves rather than direct intervention by the authorities in the future.

In a recent report on inclusive finance, the National Assembly Budget Office raised concerns about repeated bond burning programs such as the National Happiness Fund, the New Start Fund, and the New Leap Fund. "Repeated government-led bond burning or large-scale purchases of funds during each crisis can weaken the willingness to repay," the National Assembly's planning agency said. "It is necessary to establish a debt adjustment system to increase the effectiveness of financial companies' preemptive delinquent bond management and constant debt adjustment rather than a one-time debt relief method."

It is said that a private-centered debt adjustment culture has also been activated in the West. In the United States and the United Kingdom, creditors are more receptive if private institutions or non-profit organizations evaluate the repayment capacity of vulnerable borrowers and start debt adjustment negotiations.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) governs creditors through guidelines to ensure that vulnerable debtors are not treated unfavorably throughout the entire process through consumer protection obligations. This is to induce financial companies to internalize consumer perspectives through financial supervisory policies.

In addition, it is suggested that the government should also publicize the increase in consumption and tax revenue by proving in figures how much it has increased before claiming economic benefits through debt cancellation.