Economy and commerce
Banking and financial services
New relief package to sustain debtors
The Bank of Thailand is to unveil a relief package today to help debtors ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic, as the three-month blanket debt holiday is expiring at the end of this month.“The regulator considers the ceiling rate reduction for credit cards as reasonable because ...
Somruedi Banchongduang
Household debt risks boiling over
The country’s household bad debt is expected to reach 1 trillion baht this year, putting the ratio to total loans outstanding into double digits as debt-servicing ability erodes amid coronavirus-induced income shocks, says the head of the National Credit Bureau (NCB).Non-performing loans (NPLs) are surging ...
Somruedi Banchongduang
Thailand cuts key rate for third time as economic crisis worsens
The Bank of Thailand cut its benchmark interest rate for the third time this year to a record low as the economy is expected to shrink further amid the coronavirus pandemic.The central bank lowered the policy rate by 25 basis points to 0.5 per cent ...
Banks may see strong loan growth, more bad loans this year: BoT
Commercial banks are expected to post strong loan growth this year, as more large businesses are seeking credit due to the volatile debt market amid the coronavirus outbreak, a senior director at the Bank of Thailand (BoT) said on Monday.Loans grew 4.1% in the first ...
NCB: Lenders' NPL ratio rises to 8.1%
The National Credit Bureau’s 104 members saw an upsurge in non-performing loan (NPL) ratio to 8.1% at the end of March from 6.8% a year earlier as headwinds such as the coronavirus outbreak took hold, says the NCB.Bad loans for mortgages, auto and personal loans ...
Somruedi Banchongduang
Ministry lines up PNs worth B70bn to buffer viral impact
The Finance Ministry will issue promissory notes (PN) worth 70 billion baht as the first batch of borrowing under the 1-trillion-baht royal decree to soften blow from the Covid-19 spread and the government’s containment measures.“Initially the Public Debt Management Office plans to offer 70 billion ...
Wichit Chantanusornsiri
Finance Ministry earmarks B100bn for tourism
The Finance Ministry is preparing to offer 100 billion baht in soft loans as a lifeline to coronavirus-ravaged tourism operators as part of new relief measures that will seek the cabinet’s approval by early March.The soft loans, sponsored by the Government Savings Bank (GSB), will ...
Wichit Chantanusornsiri
Drop seen in demand for household loans this quarter
Demand for household loan is expected to decline in the first quarter of this year in line with the current economic situation that has affected consumers’ spending, according to a survey on loan tendency by the Bank of Thailand (BOT),The survey was conducted among executives ...
The Nation Reporter
BOT widens QR code payment services in Asean
The Bank of Thailand (BOT) has said it would expand the QR cross-border payment to three Asean countries — Singapore, Myanmar and Cambodia — and the service was expected to begin in the middle of this year, BOT assistant governor for payment systems policy and ...
The Nation Reporter
BoT's Debt Clinic expands criteria
The Bank of Thailand has relaxed conditions for its Debt Clinic, a scheme that pools unsecured bad loans owed to multiple creditors, to cover cases that have a single debtor and expanded qualified creditors to specialised financial institutions (SFIs) to step up efforts to keep ...
Somruedi Banchongduang