SME D Bank of Thailand to help more SMEs with loans
The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME D Bank) has teamed up with partners to help SMEs access loans, says bank president Nartnaree Rathapat.
Ms Nartnaree said the bank talked to around 300 SMEs to understand the assistance they require. These 300 SMEs did not meet the criteria to receive a loan.
Of these 300, the bank said it can help 10% of them make adjustments in order to qualify for a loan.
She said some SMEs did not qualify for loans because of poor accounting systems.
Last year SME D Bank extended loans worth 49.3 billion baht to 12,484 SMEs.
It also launched measures to ease SMEs’ pandemic burden. The bank provided loans worth 66 billion baht to SMEs under its Covid-19 relief measures.
Ms Nartnaree said SME D Bank would try to keep its interest rates steady as long as possible. The aim of this is to help SMEs avoid a severe impact from any future rate hikes by the Bank of Thailand.
Thailand keeping loan rates low
Last week Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith asked the Bank of Thailand to talk to commercial banks about whether they can raise their loan interest rates on a gradual basis if the central bank decides to increase its policy rate.
State-run Government Savings Bank vowed to try to maintain its loan interest rates for as long as possible. This action comes amid rising global rates. This is the government’s effort to alleviate the burden on borrowers.
Many research houses expect Thailand to begin a cycle of policy rate hikes in the second half of this year. This action would be in response to persistently high inflation.
Inflation woes are not linked to Thailand alone. Many countries around the world are facing inflation issues.
On the 26th of June, BIS called for loan interest rates to be raised quickly and decisively to prevent a surge in inflation. The purpose of this call is to prevent inflation from turning into a global recession. BIS is short for Bank for International Settlements (BIS). It is the global umbrella association of central banks.
