The Ministry of Finance will increase its scrutiny in overseeing loan issuance by I Bank and the SME Bank, especially the granting of large loans. The ministry also plans to speed up the process of reducing non-performing loans carried by the two troubled state lenders.
As for increasing the banks’ capital, Ministry officials said only a combined amount of 1 billion baht of extra capital may be issued for the two banks.
The SME Bank had asked for 6 billion baht of capital increase, whereas the Islamic Bank of Thailand had asked for as much as 14 billion baht.
Despite this fact, ministry officials believe the problems at the two banks can still be overcome.
Bank customers have reportedly withdrawn as much as 4 billion baht from the I Bank over the week, prompting the prime minister to reassure bank customers that every account would receive protection under existing law and that the government had measures to prevent troubles for the customers.
