THAILAND's cabinet approved debt support measures, including interest suspensions and reduced principal payments, to help tackle household debt, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said.
According to foreign reports, the measures will support retail borrowers and smaller businesses and solve debt problems more tangibly and sustainably, she told a press conference.
The government has been trying to ease Thailand's household debt burden, which it sees as a constraint on consumption and economic growth.
“In 2025, it will be the year of tangible opportunities and hopes. The government will create tangible results to make dreams come true. Tangible policies,” she said.
Paetongtarn, the 38-year-old daughter of billionaire former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, was elected by Parliament in August to become Thailand’s youngest prime minister, just days after a court’s shock removal of party ally Srettha Thavisin.
Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira told reporters the cabinet also agreed to allow banks to pay a reduced annual contribution of 0.23 per cent of their deposits to the Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF) for three years.
The reduced FIDF contributions would help banks support debtors, officials have said.
The measures will help borrowers with debts that are up to a year overdue, covering housing loans of up to 5 million baht (US$148,060), car loans not exceeding 800,000 baht and smaller firms' loans of up to 5 million, the government said in a statement.
The government has been trying to ease the debt burden of households, which it sees as a constraint on consumption and economic growth.
Thailand had an 89.6pct household debt-to-GDP ratio at the end of June, amounting to 16.3 trillion baht (US$482 billion), among the highest levels in Asia. - December 12, 2024
