Loan Centre For Disaster Victims Opened

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Loan centre for disaster victims opened

PHUKET: --The Thai government has opened a one-shop centre to help disaster victims with financial support.

Disaster victims in the six coastal provinces hit by the tsunami can seek loans or debt relief through the centre, from state-owned financial institutions like the Bank for Agriculture and Cooperatives (BAAC), Krung Thai Bank, said the Vice Minister of Finance, Dr. Veerachai Veerametheekul, who opened the centre.

Dr. Veerachai urged people whose businesses or employment had been wrecked by the Tsunami to visit the Centre to consultant specialists there on financial and practical matters.

The BAAC is ready to lend ten billion baht to existing clients and others in the affected areas, the bank’s president, Teerapong Tungteeranun said.

The Krung Thai Bank’s board is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to authorise branch managers in the six provinces to lend up to forty million baht, according to its vice president Dusit Tengniyom.

Under this new facility, credit will be extended on special terms to disaster victims. Branch managers will be able to fast-track approval for applications without the usual rigorous screening of credit history.

Mr. Dusit admitted that the disaster may aggravate the Bank's non-performing loans portfolio, as many clients affected by the disaster simply cannot repay their debts. However, he said he believed that when their businesses were re-established, these clients would try hard to repay the loans.

--TNA 2005-01-03