Banks to provide soft loans for SMEs

BANGKOK, 18 September 2015 (NNT) – Thai banks and financial institutions are set to provide low-interest soft loans for SME entrepreneurs with a budget of 100 billion baht.

The President and CEO of the Government Savings Bank (GSB) Chatchai Payuhanaveechai has said that 19 banks and financial institutes in Thailand will be providing Soft Loan with a low-interest payment campaign, initiated by the government to provide continuous capital for SME entrepreneurs.

He said that the Soft Loan campaign, with a budget of 100 billion baht, will ensure continuous access to capital for about 60,000 entrepreneurs, which is expected to help circulate capital into the economy at about 1.94 trillion baht.

The Soft Loan campaign will continue for seven years. The loan will be provided by the GSB with a 0.1 percent interest rate per year to the government’s special financial institutes and commercial banks, to be further circulated as loans to entrepreneurs with an interest rate not exceeding 4 percent per year. The government will pay the interest rate difference when it reimburses the loans back to the GSB.

The loans will be available on a first come first serve basis, only to new manufacturing and marketing activities upon request. Entrepreneurs can request participation with the Soft Loan campaign from today until 31 December 2015. Fund withdrawal period will be available until 31 March 2016.

-- NNT 2015-09-018

How to make a small fortune, Thai-style?

Start with a large fortune, and then offer soft loans to SMEs.

"...The loans will be available ... only to new manufacturing and marketing activities...", without any track record of performance in business or ability to repay their debt.

This really smacks of Army Intelligence.

These soft loans will create a lot of new SMEs, albeit business fronts that will exist only so long to get the loans.

Then file bankruptcy and repeat the same process over & over.

loans will only be made available to SME,s that are able to show a sustainable track record of accounts, and a forward business plan to cover the period of the loan.

I must be going senile, as I cant remember reading that part of the requirements to ensure a loan.

The other part about adequate security on the loans also appears to be missing.