The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) has said it is concerned about an increase in non-performing loans (NPLs) caused by natural disasters and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tanaratt Ngamvalairatt, president of BAAC, said the bank’s NPLs for the fiscal year 2021/2022 totaled 92 billion baht, accounting for 6.63 percent of total outstanding loans, up from 3.7 percent the previous year.
Tanaratt claimed that the increase in NPLs was caused by farmers’ income being impacted by floods and the ongoing pandemic, and the bank did not extend loans at a high rate the previous year. As a result of these factors, the bank is now experiencing a high ratio of NPLs to total outstanding loans.
Expressing concern about the rise in NPLs, the president of the BAAC said the bank will prioritize measures to reduce NPLs to around 4.5 percent for the fiscal year 2022/2023.
The BAAC has, meanwhile, set a new loan target of around 35 billion baht for the current fiscal year. (NNT)
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