One in two small and mid-sized enterprises(SMEs) in the nation is suffering a lack of funds ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. 

According to a survey on 858 SMEs by the Korea Federation of SMEs, 50-point-eight percent said they are having difficulty securing necessary funding to pay for surging costs leading up to the major holiday. The figure is three percentage points higher than the result of a similar survey conducted ahead of last year’s Lunar New Year. 

Many of companies cited increased labor costs, stagnant sales and growing prices of components as hurdles to securing funds. 

Around 52 percent of firms said they plan to provide a bonus for the major holiday this year, down by more than four percentage points from last year. The average amount of bonus they were willing to pay was estimated at 651-thousand won per employee. 

Four out of five companies said they will give their employees five days off during the holiday.