The Finance Ministry plans to increase assistance funding for SMEs affected by political unrest from 5 billion baht to 10 billion baht, Deputy Finance Minister Pradit Phattaraprasit said on Friday.

The ministry is considering expanding assistance to businesses outside the Ratchaprasong area who were also affected by the political turmoil, he said.

Conditions and regulations would be proposed to the cabinet for consideration on Tuesday, he said.

He wa speaking after chairing a meeting with representatives of govrnment agencies and protest-hit businesses in Ratchaprasong. They discussed rehabilitation measures for businesses and individuals suffering from the prolonged political turmoil.

Managers of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank) and of the Fiscal Policy Office also attended the meeting.

The measures discussed were to offer SME Bank credit to entrepreneurs with a Bt5 billion limit, already approved. Money will be lent to businesses affected by the violent protests, with a maximum of 3 million baht each. The first year of the loan would be interest free, said Mr Pradit.

After that period, a minus 3 per cent MLR interest rate will be considered.

If an SME's account is listed already with the national credit bureau, they will be approved extra credit only if guaranteed by the department store at which he or she has a retail business.

Otherwise the consideration of the credit offer will be on a case by case basis, he said.

Other measures are those discussed by Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij on Thursday and include tax measures to reduce entrepreneurs' and individuals' burdens.

The Ministry will also consider other assistance schemes, including direct cash payment to those affected by the political chaos.

The discussion's conclusions will be proposed to the cabinet for consideration next Tuesday.

Source: Bangkok Post
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The BWTP Network is proud to present new microfinance industry reports on emerging microfinance sectors in the Mekong Region of South East Asia. The Laos PDR, Thailand and Myanmar Microfinance Industry Reports are amongst the first in-depth reports into the current state of microfinance in these diverse economies and are available in both English and local language translations and are published in 2010. Through publishing these reports, the BWTP Network seeks to highlights the challenges and opportunities for the emergent microfinance sectors of the Mekong region. To download a copy of the Thailand reports, click on the following links:

English Version

Thai Version
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MCOT.NET
PHUKET, April 28 (TNA) – Thailand’s Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij on Wednesday said that the ministry will consider tax measures and low-interest loans to help business operators in the Andaman Sea coastal provinces affected by the ongoing political crisis... more can be found by clicking here.


THE NATION
The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives plans to provide loans totalling Bt420 billion to the rural sector this year, BAAC president, Luck Wajananawat said....more can be found by clicking here.
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50% reduction offered on total of B80 bn owed

The cabinet has endorsed a new debt restructuring scheme for 510,000 farmers who will be offered a 50% reduction on the 80 billion baht they owe and a waiver on interest charges.

A mid-year budget of 1.14 billion baht was approved yesterday to allow the scheme to get under way this year with training and personnel.

A further 2.2 billion baht will be allocated next year and 2.53 billion baht the following year to finance it.

Much of the money will go towards identifying the people eligible for the restructuring programme and to organising career redevelopment training for them.

About 2,000 temporary staff will be employed to handle the work, said Deputy Prime Minister Sanan Kachornprasart, who chairs an ad-hoc committee set up to oversee the scheme.

The 510,000 farm debtors owe a combined 80.4 billion baht.

A total of 5 million rai of farmland has been signed over as surety for the loans which have now become bad debts.

The first batch of about 80,000 farmers should be able to sign debt-restructuring contracts with state banks which have been assigned to implement the scheme within six months, Maj-Gen Sanan said.

The 80,000 debtors were all members of the Farmers' Rehabilitation and Development Fund (FRDF). The others who are not members of the fund can enter the debt restructuring scheme later.

Of the non-FRDF members, 350,000 had borrowed from state banks and financial institutions while the rest had debts with privately-run institutions.

Each of the debtors will receive a 50% reduction on their principal. The interest will be waived.

To become eligible, each farmer had to guarantee to repay their restructured debt within 15 years, the maximum repayment period. If they failed to do so, they would then have to pay the full original amount plus interest.

Each applicant could not owe more than 2.5 million baht.

Commercial banks were expected to join the debt restructuring programme if it proved successful, said Khunying Supatra Masdit, an adviser to the prime minister who sits on the Sanan-led committee.

Kanok Wongtrangan, an adviser to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, said the scheme was not intended to clear the debts completely.

Source: Bangkok Post
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