BANGKOK: Thailand’s cabinet on Wednesday ( Dec 11 ) approved debt support measures, including interest suspensions and reduced principal payments, to help tackle household debt, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said.
The steps will help wholesale lenders and smaller companies, she told a media event.
Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira informed investigators that the government had even consented to allow businesses to contribute a lower annual contribution of 0.23 per share of their payments for three years to the Financial Institutions Development Fund ( FIDF).
According to officials, the lowered FIDF efforts would help banks assist debtors.
Banks now are required to pay a 0.46 percent deposit on average to the FIDF, the northern bank’s rescue arm, to provide financial assistance to stressed institutions.
Afterwards on Wednesday, the Bank of Thailand will provide a presentation on the debt reduction methods.
The measures will help borrowers with debts that are up to a year overdue, covering housing loans of up to 5 million baht ( US$ 148, 060 ), car loans not exceeding 800, 000 baht and smaller firms ‘ loans of up to 5 million, the government said in a statement.
The government has made an effort to reduce the burden of household debt, which it sees as a backseat to economic growth and usage.
Thailand had a 89.6 per cent household debt-to-GDP ratio at the end of June, with household debt totalling 16.3 trillion baht ( US$ 482 billion ), among the highest levels in Asia.