The Financial Supervisory Service announced that it will encourage 175 small- and mid-sized firms that have seen worsened business performances to undergo restructuring.
 
The restructuring is the largest since 2009 when 512 companies were targeted for restructuring amid the global financial crisis.
 
The number of small- and mid-sized companies categorized as having a possibility of business normalization grew by 16 from last year to stand at 70. One-hundred-five firms were classified as having no possibility of seeing a recovery, up 34 from 2014.
 
The agency explained that the number of firms subject to restructuring grew due to an aggravated business environment resulting from a prolonged economic recession and tighter evaluations by creditor banks.
 
The number of manufacturers subject to restructuring jumped 38 percent from last year and the number of non-manufactures grew 43 percent.
 
Meanwhile, the amount of loans extended by financial institutions to companies subject to restructuring stood at around two-point-two trillion won as of the end of September.