State banks have extended loans to 36 startup projects, worth a total of Bt828 million in the first five months of this year, said Pornchai Theeravet, financial adviser of Fiscal Policy Office yesterday.

THREE state-owned banks – Krungthai Bank, Government Savings Bank, and Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank – in collaboration with Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation will together provide loans totalling Bt31.5 billion to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), exempting the SMEs from paying the loan guarantee fee of 7 per cent for the first four years.