THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

TCG to provide Bt60 bn in SME credit guarantees this year

TCG to provide Bt60 bn in SME credit guarantees this year

The Thai Credit Guarantee Corp estimates it will provide Bt60 billion in guarantees to small and medium-sized enterprises this year, after assisting them through the Bt24-billion portfolio guarantee scheme (PGS) phase 4 and the Bt10-billion start-up SMEs

TCG president Wiboon Perm-Arayawong yesterday said the agency had aggressively helped SMEs to access sources of funding via the PGS over the past three years, as a result of which outstanding credit guarantees had risen to Bt113 billion at the end of last year.

The PGS is crucial for SMEs, especially those that want to expand in order to enhance their competitiveness ahead of the Asean Economic Community’s implementation in 2015.

A survey by the agency found that about Bt24 billion in credit lines had been requested by non-flood-affected SMEs unable to put up any collateral, he said.

The TCG should play a role on helping the growth of SMEs, including start-ups, by cooperating with state-owned and commercial banks to provide new loans with low interest rates, he added. Loans guaranteed by the agency have a repayment term of up to seven years.

Under the PGS, the credit guarantee per SME is capped at Bt40 million, while the maximum guarantee under the start-up scheme is Bt2 million.

In the first five months of the year, the TCG guaranteed Bt27 billion worth of lending to SMEs, most of which were flood-affected businesses. The corporation estimates its total credit guarantees this year will be at least Bt60 billion, against Bt52 billion last year.

Outstanding credit guarantees this year are expected to reach Bt150 billion, Wiboon added.

Krisana Aramkulchai, director of Thai Credit Retail Bank, said the institution aimed to facilitate lending from the start-up SMEs scheme rather than the PGS. This is because the bank is focusing more on new businesses that want loans of up to Bt2 million.

Paphon Mangkhalathanakun, chief SME and |supply-chain officer at TMB Bank, said the bank was hoping to secure 30 per cent of lending arising from the two TCG schemes.

Surachai Chitratsenee, SME Banking Group head at CIMB Thai Bank, said the institution hoped to lend Bt500 million to Bt1 billion to SMEs participating in the schemes.

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