BANGKOK, 15 October 2015 – Commercial banks have greeted the government’s assistance measures for the property sector with a welcome, saying that the measures should be helpful to both consumers and home builders.
The cabinet earlier this week approved a number of measures to stimulate the property sector, among which are the allocation of 10-billion baht soft loan through the Government Housing Bank, reduction of house transfer fees from two percent of the estimated cost to 0.01 percent, and tax deduction for customers buying houses worth up to three million baht.
Decha Tulanan, vice Chairman of the Executive Board and Director of Bangkok Bank PCL, commented that the scheme would benefit both consumers and operators. Thanks to the government’s offers, wage earners can decide more easily to buy houses, while builders will also have a better opportunity to sell their products. Meanwhile, commercial banks are ready to launch promotion campaigns to attract more home buyers before the year end.
However, Mr. Decha said that Bangkok Bank would adhere to lending criteria for home loans issued by the Bank of Thailand. He speculated that the bank’s loan approval would expand by four percent this year.
