FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

GSB to offer Bt120 billion soft loans to tourism, service sector entrepreneurs

GSB to offer Bt120 billion soft loans to tourism, service sector entrepreneurs

The Government Savings Bank (GSB) is readying a new batch of soft loans worth Bt120 billion to help tourism and service entrepreneurs who could not access its current Bt150-billion loan package.

“The government has ordered GSB to provide soft loans to entrepreneurs affected by the Covid-19 situation since March under the budget of Bt150 billion, whereas Bt135 billion will be provided through financial institutions at an interest rate of 0.01 per cent, while the rest Bt15 billion will be provided directly by GSB at 2 per cent interest rate,” GSB president Withai Ratanakorn said.
“The loan is capped at Bt20 million per person and has a repayment period of two years, and interested borrowers must apply before December 31.
“The bank realised that some entrepreneurs did not get approval for the big chunk of Bt135 billion soft loan as it was provided through commercial banks who required borrowers with a good credit history,” he said. “The bank, therefore, has proposed to the Fiscal Policy Office to issue a new batch of soft loans of Bt120 billion to be provided via commercial and state-run banks at 2 per cent interest rate.”
Withai explained that the new batch would focus on entrepreneurs in tourism-related businesses such as hotel, home stay, spa, tour guide, restaurant, car rental and gift shop.
“The Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation will act as guarantor for these entrepreneurs to ensure the loan is accessible for a larger group,” he said.
“Furthermore, GSB is considering providing loans to freelance and regular employees who have been affected by Covid-19 with a budget of Bt20 billion,” said Withai. “To ensure that more people could apply for this loan, it will require no collateral or guarantor, while the loan limit for each person will be in the range of Bt30,000 to Bt50,000.”

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