The state-run Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) aims for lending growth of 10% this financial year, focusing on loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and farmers who shift to less thirsty crops.
The BAAC targets 120 billion baht in loans this financial year, which started on April 1. The bank made well over 115 billion baht in loans in the last financial year, said president Luck Wajananawat.
Its outstanding loans amounted to 1.21 trillion baht at the end of March, up 10.6% from a year earlier.
The bank is offering 72 billion baht under the One Tambon One Farming SME loan scheme. Under the programme, each qualifying farm is eligible to seek a maximum 20-million-baht loan at 4% interest for the first seven years of the repayment period.
Also available are 15 billion baht in loans for farmers who live in 26 provinces along the Mae Klong and Chao Phraya river basins and plan to switch to less thirsty crops. The one-year loans are capped at 3 million baht per borrower, with an interest rate of 0.01%.
Mr Luck said the BAAC had deposits totalling 1.31 trillion baht at the end of March, up 76.9 billion or 6.24% on the previous financial year. The bank's net profit fell by 14% to 8.9 billion baht in the last financial year owing to measures to help farmers comply with the government's policy.
The BAAC's capital adequacy ratio stood at 11.47%, well above the Bank of Thailand's minimum requirement of 8.5%.
The bank's total assets amounted to 1.51 trillion baht.
The BAAC's non-performing loans edged lower to 3.23% of loans at the end of March, compared with 3.38% a year earlier, largely due to the bank's measures to ease the financial burden of farmers hurt by the drought and tumbling crop prices.
Some 1.28 million farmers who owe 167 billion baht have participated in the bank's financial assistance schemes.
Moreover, the BAAC has returned 2.23 billion baht in cash to debtors who have good track records of repayment.