Ekniti to propose AMC debt restructuring plan for small NPL debtors next week
Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas to seek Cabinet approval for 122-billion-baht AMC scheme to buy small NPL debts and ease household burden.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said on Tuesday that he will ask the Cabinet next week to approve a 122-billion-baht budget for asset management companies (AMCs) to purchase bad debts from around 3.4 million small-scale debtors.
Ekniti said the project — titled “Closing Debt Account Fast and Move On” — was not included on this week’s Cabinet agenda because state financial institutions were scheduled to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the Bank of Thailand on Tuesday afternoon.
The MoU was signed by Ekniti, Bank of Thailand Governor Vitai Ratanakorn, and Chartsiri Sophonpanich, president of Bangkok Bank and chairman of the Thai Bankers’ Association.
Scheme to help small debtors clear non-performing loans
Ekniti explained that the AMC debt restructuring scheme would allow two state-run AMCs to buy non-performing loans (NPLs) from small-scale debtors, each with a maximum debt of 100,000 baht.
The scheme targets debtors without collateral — including those with credit card debt or personal loans. Eligible participants must have total debts with all financial institutions of no more than 100,000 baht as of September 30.
Although the programme targets 3.4 million debtors with a total budget of 122 billion baht, Ekniti expects around 2.36 million debtors to participate, requiring approximately 62.4 billion baht.
Four-month goal to deliver tangible household debt relief
Ekniti said the scheme is one of the government’s key initiatives to address household debt and aims to deliver tangible results within four months.
The programme would give small debtors who demonstrate repayment potential a second chance to access new credit once their bad debt records are cleared from the National Credit Bureau.
Under the plan, Sukhumvit Asset Management Co Ltd (SAM) will purchase bad debts from commercial banks, while Ari Asset Management Co Ltd (Ari-AMC) will buy from state-owned banks.
The Government Savings Bank (GSB) will provide soft loans to the two AMCs for debt purchases.
Funding and debt relief measures
Funding for the project will come from the remaining budget of the “You Fight, We Help” scheme and from the GSB’s reduction of its contribution to the Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF) from 0.46% to 0.23%.
The AMCs will adopt two main measures to assist debtors:
- Debt settlement: Accounts will be closed if debtors pay an agreed portion of their debt.
- Installment plan: Debtors may repay over three years with interest suspended. If all instalments are paid on time, the entire interest will be waived.
Next phase to support farmers’ debt restructuring
In the next phase, the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) will establish its own AMC to purchase bad debts from around 100,000 borrowers, with an estimated budget of 7–8 billion baht.
