FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

EXIM Thailand pushes Thai overseas expansion with loans boost

EXIM Thailand pushes Thai overseas expansion with loans boost

The Export-Import Bank of Thailand (EXIM Thailand) said on Monday it had achieved its target for the first nine months of supporting Thai entrepreneurs’ trade and investment expansion globally with an increase in outstanding loans by 12.81 per cent year on year to Bt95.81 billion.


Of the total, Bt29.73 billion went for financing trade while Bt66.08 billion funded investment.
The bank’s president, Pisit Serewiwattana, added that in the first nine months of 2018, provision of credit facilities to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises had expanded, contributing to a business turnover of Bt131.47 billion, of which Bt74.74 billion came from SMEs. 
As of the end of September, outstanding SME loans amounted to Bt38.35 billion, representing a 6.86-per-cent year-on-year growth. This contributed to the bank’s net profit of Bt1.10 billion, up by 8.48 per cent year on year.
Pisit added that EXIM Thailand had efficiently managed non-performing loans (NPLs). As a result, its NPL ratio as of the end of September 2018 stood at 3.80 per cent, a 0.16 per cent decline year on year, with NPLs amounting to Bt3.64 billion. 
Allowance for doubtful accounts was Bt8.92 billion, a Bt1.24-billion increase from the corresponding period of the previous year. Of the total allowance, Bt4.05 billion was the minimum provisioning requirement of the Bank of Thailand, which represented a ratio of loan-loss provision against the regulatory requirement of 220.02 per cent, hence enabling the bank to maintain a strong financial status.
In performing as an export credit insurance agency to safeguard Thai exporters against risk of foreign trade partners’ non-payment and boost their confidence and competitive advantage in both existing and new frontier markets, in the third quarter of 2018, EXIM Thailand recorded Bt64.793 billion in export credit and investment insurance business turnover. The figure is up by Bt13.89 billion year on year, of which Bt11.6 billion came from SMEs’ exports, representing 17.91 per cent of the bank’s accumulated insurance business turnover.
As for support of Thai entrepreneurs’ international trade and investment, EXIM Thailand currently has total accumulated loan approvals amounting to Bt66.71 billion for international projects, with outstanding loans accounting for Bt38.21 billion as of the end of September. 
The bank has also consistently promoted Thai trade and investment expansion in new frontiers, particularly the CLMV (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam) which are high-potential markets for Thai entrepreneurs. As of the end of September 2018, outstanding loans amounted to Bt29.19 billion, which was a Bt1.3-billion growth from the end of 2017. 
EXIM Thailand plans to open more representative offices in the CLMV in addition to those duly opened and in operation. Its first international representative office was opened in Yangon, Myanmar in 2017 and the second one in Vientiane, Laos, the official opening ceremony of which will be held in November. Another representative office will be opened in 2019 in Phnom Penh. It aims to promote Thai entrepreneurs’ trade and investment with their counterparts in the CLMV with increase in business volume and proportion.

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