|
|
| • EXCH RATES |
|
Baht/$ 33.60/68 (Bid/Ask)
|
GOLD |
13,350
+ 300
|
|
GH Bank interest now computed daily
KANANA KATHARANGSIPORN
A new calculation method has doubled the Government Housing Bank's non-performing loans (NPLs) to 11.84% of total outstanding credit at the end of June, bank president Khan Prachuabmoh said yesterday.
Under the system applied since last November, customers' overdue payments for one period were sometimes not sufficient to pay principal as interest had to be paid first, and interest calculation was based on days, not months as in the past. As a result, the accounts NPLs since the principal did not decrease.
''Our NPLs were largely from many customers who were behind in payments for two periods and paid only once. Their payment for one period was okay in the past as the system calculated [interest] by period,'' he said.
 |
| Khan: New lending poised to drop |
Some NPLs were caused by technical problems, not by the customers themselves. For example, customers whose housing loans had just been approved believed that their first payment had been deducted by their employer but the deduction had been delayed..
Mr Khan said the bank would solve this problem by asking these customers to pay for two periods in advance when they received approval.
Another cause was that the first four months of the year were normally a period when NPLs rose due to the large number of holidays and the beginning of the school year. At the same time, May was the month customers had to pay fire insurance premiums for housing collateral.
''NPLs will decline in June and July as customers' burdens ease,'' he said. ''We will separate payments of insurance premiums from housing loan payment.''
At the end of June, GH Bank had a total outstanding loan of 582.74 billion baht, up from 577.24 billion at the end of 2007. Its NPLs totalled 68.99 billion baht, or 11.84%, up from 5.51% at the end of December.
In the first half, the bank released a total of 34.52 billion baht in new housing loans to 49,002 accounts, down by 37% year-on-year due to the economic slowdown, higher inflation rates and living expenses and fluctuating interest rates.
After allocating a reserve of about four billion baht in line with the IAS 39 accounting standard, GH Bank posted a net profit of 727 million baht in the first half, down 4.47% year-on-year. Its non-performing assets totalled 7.42 billion baht with sales of 994 million baht.
Mr Khan said the bank would ask the Finance Ministry to extend the IAS implementation period to 2012 and it would set aside a reserve of at least 20% each year from now.
He said new housing loans this year would decline to 80 billion baht from a target of 95 billion due to a slowdown in partners' loan programmes. The government approved only two billion baht from five billion requested for first-home programmes, while the Social Security Office has approved three billion baht against a planned seven billion.
GH Bank yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with the Secondary Mortgage Corporation to provide 500 million baht for housing loans at three fixed rates: one-year at 3.99%, two years at 4.99% and five years at 6.99%.
To be launched in September, the programme will offer credit lines of between 300,000 and 10 million baht with a maximum of 85% of the appraised price of land and building or the selling price, whichever is lower. Refinancing from other banks except GH Bank will be also allowed.
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
Next
