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The permanent secretary to the Office of Prime Minister (OPM), Jirachai Moontongroy, chaired a forum yesterday aimed at helping people saddled with debts arising from loans from informal channels.
The opening of the session – dubbed a clinic for those needing help to clear debts – is part of the government’s efforts to eliminate lending from informal sources. The government aims to provide emergency loans to debtors, capped at Bt50,000 per person.
The OPM is joining with government agencies to negotiate arrangements between debtors and creditors for payment by instalment at legally-required lending rates, Jirachai said. The Government Savings Bank and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives may be requested for help if necessary.
Clinics will be set up in all provinces and the OPM will be on the lookout for creditors who charge exorbitant lending rates, such as 20-30 per cent a day, Jirachai said. If the lending rates exceed the legal requirement stated, action will be taken, he said. 

SEC to revise IPO rules

The Securities and Exchange Commission Thailand plans to revise the rules governing the distribution of initial public offering shares to a company’s sponsor. The distribution will be capped at 15 per cent of IPO shares; now, in some cases allotments of up to 50 per cent of IPO shares have been made.
The SEC is inviting opinions on the proposal until April 28. 

SRT ordered to call bids quickly for 5 rail projects
    
The Cabinet yesterday instructed the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) to hurry to call bids quickly for five double-track railway projects and complete the tendering process within three months, Deputy Transport Minister Pichit Akrathit said yesterday.
The SRT has started dividing the five routes into 13 contracts from the previous five contracts, in line with the order of a government-sponsored panel tasked with supervising the procurement processes of all state agencies.
The Lop Buri-Pak Nampo route worth Bt23 billion was split into two civil-works contracts and one contract for installation of the signalling system.
The Map Kaboa-Jira Junction route worth Bt28 billion was divided into two civil works contracts, one tunnel-construction contract, and one signalling-installation contract.
The Nakhon Pathom-Hua Hin contract worth Bt19 billion was divided into two civil-works contracts, while the Hua Hin-Prachuap Khiri Khan route worth Bt9.8 billion has only one civil-works contract. 
The Prachuap Khiri Khan-Chumphon route worth Bt16 billion was split into two civil-works deals. 
The three southern routes will jointly call a bid for one contract for signalling-system installation.
 

BBL loan for Star Energy deal

Diversified petrochemical giant PT Barito Pacific has secured a US$250 million loan from Bangkok Bank, Thailand’s biggest lender by assets, to support its plan to acquire local energy firm Star Energy Group Holdings Pte Ltd (SEGHL).
The loan must be settled within 18 months from March 24, when the agreement was signed, Barito Pacific director Henky Susanto said in a statement to the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX).
Under the deal, Barito has pledged as collateral nearly 500 million shares of its subsidiary PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical, Barito’s debt service reserve account and dividend account.
A corporate guarantee provided by other Barito’s subsidiaries PT Griya Idola and Marigold Resources Pte Ltd also serves as collateral.
Prior to the loan agreement, Barito, owned by tycoon Prajogo Pangestu, signed on March 21 a supplemental memorandum of understanding regarding the acquisition plan with two SEGHL shareholders, Star Energy Investment Ltd and SE Holdings Limited. - The Jakarta Post 

Move opens up Thai sales

Japan based Saison Information Systems Co Ltd has announced that its subsidiary in Singapore, HULFT Pte Ltd has signed a HULFT Implementation Partner Agreement with Furukawa (Thailand) Co Ltd. The agreement means it will be a sales and installation partner in the Thailand for DataSpider Servista and DataSpider Mini for Excel, which are marketed by the HULFT business globally. 
HULFT is a series of file transfer middleware products with the fourth highest share of the market in terms of worldwide sales, and the leading share of the domestic market in Japan.