Former deputy finance minister Paopoom Rojanasakul expressed hope that the new government led by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul will continue the debt relief programmes for Thais that have benefited nearly 6 million people.
According to Mr Paopoom, who was also deputy leader of the Pheu Thai Party during the administrations of Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Srettha Thavisin, within two years the government launched 15 measures addressing debt relief, debt suspensions, and additional lending through Finance Ministry mechanisms, helping close to 6 million people, in addition to the regular lending carried out by financial institutions.
“I strongly hope these programmes will be carried on by the Anutin administration and not be abandoned halfway. Specifically, debt relief programmes that have provided assistance to more than 5.61 million people,” he said.
The “Khun Su, Rao Chuay” (You Fight, We Help) programme, which was designed to help those struggling with mortgage, car and small business loan repayments, included 1.7 million debtors. This programme was a collaboration between the Bank of Thailand and several agencies to support retail borrowers and small businesses struggling with debt, enabling them to restructure loans, ease their financial burdens, and regain financial stability more quickly.
The agricultural debt-relief (farmer debt suspension) measure assisted 1.43 million farmers in Phase 1 and 1.34 million farmers in Phase 2, with a total debt amount of 202 billion baht.
The debt relief measure for Code 21 debtors covered 1.09 million people, with a total debt amount of 7.62 billion baht. “Code 21” refers to debtors affected by the pandemic and the economic slowdown.
The cooperative credit programme to address debts of government personnel supported 10,319 accounts, with total debts amounting to 4.12 billion baht.
In addition, the “People’s Bank” loan programme to address informal debt approved loans for 39,716 people, with total debts of 1.42 billion baht.
Rising household debt over recent years has raised government concerns that this burden would weigh on Thailand’s economic growth, prompting an urgent search for solutions.
According to the latest report from the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), household debt in the second quarter of this year tallied 87.4% of GDP, marking the first contraction.
However, the NESDC warned that credit quality remains a serious concern. The contraction was largely due to tighter lending standards adopted by financial institutions, rather than a genuine improvement in households’ financial conditions.