Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG) expanded its guarantees yesterday for the Bank of Thailand's soft loan scheme by an additional 100 billion baht after the first allocation of 100 billion was exhausted, says acting general manager Wasukarn Visansawatdi.
TCG is open to requests for the loan guarantee until Oct 9, 2023.
The central bank launched the soft loan scheme worth 250 billion baht to help businesses and individuals survive the impact of the prolonged pandemic.
Mrs Wasukarn said under the scheme, TCG has provided guarantees to micro-businesses, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and major corporates.
TCG charges micro-SMEs and SMEs a guarantee fee of 1% of the guaranteed loan value for the first four years, lower than the normal rate of 1.75% per year.
The firm charges corporates a guarantee fee of 1% for the first two years, with a maximum loan guarantee of up to 150 million baht.
She said TCG's loan guarantees enable micro-SMEs and SMEs to access loans of up to 50 million baht.
Under the loan scheme, TCG also provides full compensation to cover the damage to lenders if SME and micro-SME loans become non-performing loans (NPLs). This guarantee encourages banks to provide loans to SMEs.
As part of TCG's regular practice, if SME loans become NPLs, it will provide compensation worth 80% of the loss to lenders. The compensation increases to 90% in the case of micro-SMEs.
Eligible applicants for TCG's loan guarantees under this scheme are individuals or juristic persons with businesses registered in Thailand. They must not have NPLs as of Dec 31, 2019 and must not be listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, but can be listed on the Market for Alternative Investment.
As of Sept 12, TCG has granted total guarantees of more than 182 billion baht to customers this year.