BANGKOK, 17 February 2012 – The Bank of Thailand is offering low-interest loans or soft loans to financial institutions in order for them to provide loans to flood-affected entrepreneurs.
BoT Assistant Governor Pongpen Ruengvirayudh revealed that the BoT has begun offering the soft loans on Friday, with a budget of 300 billion baht. The loans will carry 0.01% interest for commercial banks, both in and outside of the country, and six state-owned financial enterprises. The BoT expects to allocate the budget to those financial institutions within two weeks. The financial institutions will then offer the money as loans for flood rehabilitation.
Qualified loan seekers are SMEs and individuals whose houses or workplaces were in the flooded areas. They have to directly be affected by the flood. The maximum loan amount for each SME is 30 million baht and 1 million baht for individuals, carrying an interest rate of not more than 3% per year.
