Treasury supports state banks to help with flood relief

The Treasury Department supports state banks in issuing financial measures to help flood victims in 2024, including debt repayment suspension, interest rate reduction, new loans for home repairs, and low interest rates for businesses and shops. Mr. Pichai Chunhavajira, Minister of Finance, Mr. Chulaphan Amornvivat, Deputy Minister of Finance, and Mr. Paopum Rojanasakul, Deputy Minister of Finance, revealed that the flooding problem in many areas, both the North, the upper Northeast, the Central, and the South, has caused damage to property and affected the lives and occupations of the villagers. Therefore, state banks have been assigned to issue financial measures, including debt repayment suspension, interest rate reduction, and low-interest loan measures, to provide assistance and alleviate the suffering of people affected by the flood situation. The main points of the projects are as follows: Government Savings Bank has implemented urgent flood relief measures, consisting of: 1) Debt repayment suspensi on measures for retail loan customers with a credit line not exceeding 10 million baht, receiving a suspension of principal repayment and a 50 percent interest reduction for a period of 3 months; 2) Low-interest loan measures, consisting of 2 projects: Emergency loan project to help disaster victims, credit limit per person not exceeding 10,000 baht, interest rate 0.6 percent per month, loan period not exceeding 15 months, no installment payments for the first 3 months. Home loan project for disaster victims, maximum loan amount per person is 100 percent of the appraised price, starting interest rate of 2 percent per year. Indicate your intention to join the measure via the Government Savings Bank website or contact the local Government Savings Bank branch from now on. The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) has implemented measures to assist customers affected by the disaster, including : 1) Debt repayment suspension measures Export-Import Bank of Thailand (EXIM) has prepared meas ures to assist customers affected by the floods, divided into: Assistance measures for short-term loans: extend the promissory note period for up to 180 days, increase the temporary revolving credit limit by up to 20 percent of the original revolving credit limit, up to a maximum of 2 million baht, and change short-term debt to long-term debt with a maximum repayment period of 3 years. Long-term loan assistance measures: Extend the loan term to a maximum of 7 years, reduce the first-year interest rate by 0.50% or pay only 50% interest for the first 6 months, and suspend principal payments for up to 1 year. Inform your intention to join the measures via the GS Bank website from now on. Islamic Bank of Thailand (IBOT) For existing customers affected by the disaster, they will receive a suspension of principal payments, paying only the profit rate for a period not exceeding 6 months, with an extension of the suspension period and an exemption from the late charge incurred in full until the account adjustment date. Applications to join the measure can be submitted from today onwards. The Small Industry Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG) has implemented measures to assist TCG customers and debtors affected by the 2024 flood, including: 1) Fee payment suspension measures for TCG customers whose loan guarantee fees and guarantee management fees are due from August 23, 2024 to October 31, 2024. They can suspend payment of loan guarantee fees and guarantee management fees for 6 months from the due date. 2) Installment payment suspension measures for TCG debtors who are in the process of repaying under the debt restructuring plan and are not in default can suspend payment of installments for 3 installments. They can apply to join the project until September 30, 2024. The Ministry of Finance believes that these measures will be able to help all target groups of people, including farmers, small-scale people, and entrepreneurs in the area, reduce their cost burdens, and provide them with working capital, so that they c an rehabilitate their businesses, improve and repair buildings, factories, and machinery so that they can continue their careers and businesses. Those affected can contact each specialized financial institution to request assistance from now on. The Ministry of Finance will closely monitor the situation. To allow people to return to their normal lives as soon as possible Source: Thai News Agency