The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME D Bank) expects to provide loans to SMEs totalling 75 billion baht this year, around 25% higher than last year.
According to Phichit Mitrawong, the bank’s managing director, in the first nine months of this year the bank extended more than 57 billion baht in loans, up 35.6% year-on-year.
In the final quarter of this year, SME D Bank expects to lend at least 20 billion baht, meeting its annual target of 75 billion baht, higher than the 60 billion lent last year.
He said the loans provided to small customers help to stimulate the economy, injecting more than 262 billion baht into the system.
For the fourth quarter this year, Mr Phichit said the bank plans to offer additional loans to SMEs to lift the economy in line with the government’s “Quick Big Win” policy.
This policy is expected to increase credit demand, driven by government measures such as the “Khon La Khrueng Plus” co-payment scheme and the top-up for state welfare cards, with the government allocating a total budget of 66.5 billion baht, generating more than 100 billion baht in economic circulation.
According to the SME Confidence Index survey conducted by SME D Bank, sentiment for economic prospects in the fourth quarter this year rose to 80.6% from 67.1% in the previous quarter.
This aligns with increasing demand for SME loans, which increased to 42.2% in the fourth quarter year-to-date, up from 21.2% in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the bank’s non-performing loans (NPLs) have steadily declined from nearly 50% in the past to 8.7% as of September.
Total NPLs in the third quarter tallied 8.51 billion baht, down from 12.4 billion year-on-year, a decrease of 31.5%.
The decline in NPLs is attributed to the bank’s debt restructuring programmes that help borrowers repay at a manageable rate, along with risk management tools that enable early intervention before customers become NPLs.
The bank has assisted more than 16,000 customers, with a total restructured debt value of 33.5 billion baht.
Mr Phichit said SMEs have been affected by the economic slowdown since 2019, and the following year faced shutdowns caused by the pandemic.
After 2022, SMEs continued to struggle with the influx of cheap imported goods flooding the country and competition from local businesses, as well as the impact of US trade tariffs, he said.