A fresh aid package for small and medium-sized enterprises is scheduled to go before the cabinet for approval next Tuesday.
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha called a joint meeting with Mr Somkid, Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana, Revenue Department director-general Ekniti Nitithanprapas and Fiscal Policy Office director-general Lavaron Sangsnit to discuss details of the new SME aid deal.
On Aug 20, 2019, the cabinet approved an SME stimulus package that included a credit guarantee by Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG) and credit lines through state banks worth a combined 100 billion baht.
The Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion was also ordered to help SMEs and micro-SMEs access funding sources.
Mr Uttama said the aid measures would be provided based on SMEs' characteristics.
SMEs will be classified into three groups: those who want to access financial sources but cannot, those whose debts have turned sour and those who can access financial institution lending but need additional liquidity.
The Finance Ministry will use TCG to help SMEs tap financial institution loans.
TCG's guarantee coverage ratio will increase to more than the current 30% if SMEs fail to service the guaranteed loan, Mr Uttama said without providing the new figure.
TCG plans to offer a 10-billion-baht credit guarantee facility to the first group, he said.
The Finance Ministry will propose that the cabinet tweak the requirement by extending the debt restructuring negotiation period for SMEs whose loans are guaranteed by TCG to seven years from five years at present.
At present, TCG is required to file lawsuits against SMEs that default and complete debt restructuring talks within five years.
An estimated 10,000 SMEs with a combined debt of about 10 billion baht are in this group.
For the third group, Krungthai Bank is offering low-rate loans worth 50-60 billion baht to SMEs while Government Savings Bank is extending 40 billion baht to boost financial liquidity.
Meanwhile, Supant Mongkolsuthree, chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries, said SMEs' competitiveness has regressed because of poor domestic consumption and the overall economic slowdown.
Most SMEs are seeing a decline in revenue and face tighter financial liquidity now that banks have tightened their lending to meet the requirements of the Bank of Thailand in order to keep a lid on non-performing loans, he said.