The government has launched measures to help rehabilitate business operations affected by COVID-19, especially SME management. More than 6,000 SME operations have received assistance from a budget of 16 billion baht.
Ms. Ratchada Thanadirek, Deputy Government Spokesperson, disclosed that the government has issued a soft loan royal decree which includes a measure to offer soft loans amounting to 250 billion baht to help these business operators gain access to loans with a low interest rate of no more than two percent during the first two-year period of the contract and an average rate of no more than five percent per year and a debt restructuring measure through Asset Warehousing with Buy-Back options (totaling 100 billion baht) which provides a standardized debt restructuring program for adversely affected borrowers whose businesses require a prolonged recovery period, while possessing viable business models and collaterals. The royal decree has been effective since April. The Bank of Thailand (BOT) and the Thai Bankers Association has established guidelines for rapidly and properly assisting the right group of debtors.
More than 6,000 SME operations have received assistance from a budget of 16 billion baht, 63 percent of which has been distributed to SME operators. As for the debt restructuring measure through Asset Warehousing with Buy-Back options, the value of the assets transferred is 910 million baht, which is seen as considerable progress, because it is a new measure and the debtors are in the process of studying the details. Those who have shown interest in joining the program are mostly hotel business operators, real estate business operators and real estate rental business operators both in Bangkok and other provinces.
In general, the government has accelerated solutions to national economic problems covering exports, government investments that focus on investment in infrastructure to stimulate the economy, foreign investment and domestic consumption as well as ensuring that SME entrepreneurs have access to low-interest funding sources together with the BOT, while maintaining employment levels and helping new graduates to find a job. (NNT)
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