Student Loan Fund to expand lending due to Covid-19 crisis
The Student Loan Fund (SLF) plans to increase its loan budget for academic year 2020 from Bt34 billion to Bt37 billion to help students and parents during the Covid-19 situation, and expects up to 650,000 borrowers.
“The SLF has also adjusted the eligibility of borrowers from those having annual earnings not exceeding Bt200,000 to not exceeding Bt360,000 so that wider groups of parents can apply for loans for their children,” said SLF manager Chainarong Katchapanan. “Also, all borrowers will be granted an additional cost of living allowance at Bt600 per month.”
“There have been rumours circulating in social media from those who did not receive the allowance in the first month that they suspect the fund is nearly depleted,” he said. “This is just a misunderstanding, as it usually takes up to 30 days to approve the borrowers’ status to receive the allowance, whereas the money will be disbursed from the second month of the loan contract,” Chainarong said.
“The SLF uses its own rotational fund and has not requested any additional budget from the government since 2017. The fund is strong and can support up to 650,000 borrowers in the current academic year,” he added.
Chainarong added that after SLF opened the online channel, ‘e-Student Loan’ in April, 610,000 people have submitted their applications. The deadline for application submission for academic year 2020 is September 30.
For more information, visit www.studentloan.or.th or call centre 026104888.