State policy lender Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) will extend 5.2 trillion won ($4.2 billion) in financial aid to shipbuilders amid reduced orders from pandemic influence.

The rescue share for the shipbuilding industry was raised from initially earmarked 3.8 trillion won, according to Eximbank on Wednesday.

The bank will also raise the cap for a loan program for the supply chain of shipbuilders to 1.9 trillion won from the previous 1.6 trillion won. Under the program, the state lender will provide shipbuilders with loans for early payment to suppliers and contractors.

A day earlier, Eximbank chief met with representatives of 10 shipbuilders and contractors to discuss various measures to help the ailing industry stay afloat.

Order book has been thinning due to the depressed global demand from the coronavirus-driven economic fallout. The country’s top three shipyards bagged only $2.1 billion worth new vessel orders in the first three months of this year. The volume is about 6 percent of their annual target and more than halved from the same period a year earlier.

By Cho Jeehyun

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