Despite the rebound in tourism, declining inflation and lower unemployment, some groups remain vulnerable and the government is focused on helping them, Trisulee said.
Caretaker Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has provided policy guidance to government agencies, emphasising the need to tackle rising household debt, especially for vulnerable groups, Trisulee said.
This includes shifting those in debt to informal lenders to the formal financial lending system, so that the government can have an accurate picture of the extent of the household debt in order to provide appropriate assistance, Trisulee said.
Prayut has been informed by the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Thailand that the overall financial system is stable and debt repayment is at a good level. As a result no new broad-scale measures, like those implemented during the pandemic, are required.
However, specific measures are required to address the needs of vulnerable households who may still be reeling, including those in debt to informal lenders, Trisulee said.
During the pandemic, the Ministry of Finance, the central bank, commercial banks, non-bank financial institutions, and specialised financial institutions collaborated to implement assistance measures for debtors.
These included debt restructuring and implementing new debt-repayment criteria for all types of borrowers, including large businesses, SMEs, and individual debtors, Trisulee said.
As of the first quarter of this year, the beneficiaries totalled 1.94 million accounts at commercial banks and non-bank financial institutions, with a total debt burden of 1.89 trillion baht.
At specialised financial institutions, about 3.32 million accounts with a combined debt burden of 1.48 trillion baht received assistance.
In total, 5.26 million accounts with a combined debt burden of 3.37 trillion baht received assistance, Trisulee said.
Specialised financial institutions, such as the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, have implemented assistance programs for people with debts to informal lenders.
The bank has opened consultation points for them at all branches nationwide.
Recently, it introduced a special online service to help people manage debts. They can register and participate in the program through the bank’s website or its Line account, Trisulee said.
Since the implementation of assistance programs for people in debt to informal lenders, the bank has shifted 710,123 people in debt to informal lenders to the legal system, Trisuless said, adding that their combined debts were 59.76 billion baht.