People attend a debt mediation fair held at Impact Muang Thong Thani last year. (Photo: bangkokpost.com) Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand has kicked off a debt suspension and reliefprogramme for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as part of the government's commitment to address the problem.
Accordingto government spokesman Chai Wacharonke, the board of Thai Credit GuaranteeCorporation (TCG), a state-owned specialised financial institution under theMinistry of Finance, recently approved the implementation of two assistancemeasures for SMEs.
Thefirst measure calls for debt suspension for SMEs affected by the COVID-19pandemic for 18 months. The scheme runs from January 1 this year to June 30,2025. EligibleSMEs are those with overdue payments exceeding 90 days from the impact ofCOVID-19 in 2019 or non-performing loans as of December 31, 2023, coveringindividuals and juristic persons, as well as SME debtors participating in thedebt restructuring scheme and assistance measures of the TCG.
Theformer are required to have a contracted amount not exceeding 10 million baht(about 285,000 USD) while the latter need to comply with the conditions of theprogrammes for three months.
Thesecond measure calls for reducing principal by 15% from January 1 to June 30.
Chaisaid that the six-month measure is expected to assist around 5,000 micro orretail debtors to return to the system faster.
ThaiPrime Minister Srettha Thavisin said previously resolving the informal debtproblem, which he likened to modern-day slavery, is a national agenda item,requiring a series of measures. These measures involve various agenciescollaborating with the Interior Ministry and the National Police Bureau toprevent unregulated lending.
Householddebt is estimated to exceed 90% of GDP in Thailand. The governmentconservatively estimates informal debt at 50 billion baht./.
