The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and the government agreed Thursday on the need to provide support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and micro business owners to cushion them from rising oil prices due to an intensifying war in the Middle East. The meeting, attended by DPK lawmakers and Financial Services Commission (FSC) officials, came as the government is preparing a supplementary budget to address the fallout from the ongoing conflict. The two sides also discussed plans to provide financial support to the state-run Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), one of the key policy lenders in Korea, to help lower borrowing costs for SMEs and mom-and-pop stores, DPK Rep. Kim Nam-geun said during a briefing. At the meeting, FSC Chairman Lee Eog-weon said the government will seek to include in the supplementary budget programs aimed at easing the burden on companies and small merchants hit by the Middle East crisis. The DPK and the government earlier agreed to draw up and submit this year's first supplementary budget bill to the National Assembly by the end of this month.