Democrats will widen access to loans to ensure ‘fairness and spark growth’
Watanya Bunnag, chairwoman of the Democrat Party’s political innovation committee, on Wednesday explained how the party will provide fairer access to lending to more people as well as micro and small businesses.
The Democrat’s strong point is that it has policies to create a strong economic foundation at the grassroots level to ensure all Thais and micro enterprises have equal access to loans, said Watanya, who is the wife of Nation Group (Thailand) CEO Shine Bunnag.
The Democrat’s policies are not populist ploys to attract voters ahead of the May 14 election, she said.
The party will expand access to loans in three ways.
First, it will establish community banks in villages and provide each one with a 2 million baht budget for granting soft loans to low-income people.
This will prevent low-income citizens from becoming victims of loan sharks, she said.
Second, a Democrat government will make lending to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) a priority. Commercial banks often reject loan applications from SMEs, but the Democrats believe more lending to SMEs can create 13 million jobs and contribute 35% to GDP, she said.
Third, the government will provide loans for starting businesses that consider the creativity of the borrower on top of the products and services they are selling, Watanya said.
She added that a Democrat government will also support entertainment businesses as well as exports of Thai products and services.
