PM promises to tackle civil servants’ debt problems

PM promises to tackle civil servants' debt problems
Power supper: Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is seen with current Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, left, and former prime minister Somchai Wongsawat, straight, who is also his sibling- in- laws, having supper at Ban Green Valley in Mae Rim district, Chiang Mai. ( Pool photo )

Srettha Thavisin, the prime minister, pledged to pay off the debts of almost three million government employees and called for interest charges to be lowered to help ease their stress.

Mr. Srettha said on Friday that the efforts over the past two weeks were showing promising results after meeting with the eyes of 11 state authorities to discuss how to handle the debt of civil servants and state employees were proceeding.

He stated that the government would continue to work to reduce the common industry’s debts, stressing that ignoring the problem could lead to a regional catastrophe.

Mr. Srettha claimed that the heads of different state agencies requested that economic institutions lower interest rates to lessen the burden on loans and make it more tolerable for them, but the Bank of Thailand maintained its unwavering support.

He added that he also requested that the Cooperative Promotion Department ( CPD ) sign the government’s debt settlement plan as soon as possible because many government employees and employees owed large sums to cooperatives of their organizations.

The prime minister promised to speak with the management of the Student Loan Fund ( SLF ) about the possibility of lowering interest rates for defaulters who are subject to 18 % interest annually.

Pol Gen Kittirat Phanphet, assistant police chief who serves as deputy head of the state commission on people’s debts, told the gathering yesterday that out of 3.1 million civil servants, around 2.8 million cooperatively owe more than 3 trillion baht to the cooperatives of their organisations.

He claimed that many of these liars do n’t have enough money to pay their bills after servicing their debts.

They are in need of urgent assistance, he noted.

Non-performing debts are increasing across all forms of lending, according to Pol Gen Kittirat, who noted that relevant laws will need to be amended to facilitate effective debt negotiation and settlement.

Gen Sanitchanok Sangkhachan, the ministry’s permanent secretary, stated to the audience that the ministry has taken a number of steps to assist its personnel who are facing financial difficulties.