The Finance Ministry plans to hold talks with the Bank of Thailand and National Credit Bureau (NCB) about ways to reduce non-performing loans (NPLs) resulting from the impact of the pandemic, known as Code 21 debtors, in a bid to remove them from the bureau's blacklist sooner so they can access credit.
According to Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat, there are around 4 million small and medium-sized enterprise accounts classified as NPLs and categorised as Code 21 by the central bank.
According to the NCB's conditions, these debtors will be removed from its records next year. However, the government wants to expedite this process to enable these debtors to access credit more quickly, Mr Julapun said.
Under bureau conditions, if a debtor at a financial institution becomes an NPL or has overdue debt for three months or more without rectification, they remain on the blacklist for five years.
After being removed from the blacklist, their information is still retained in the NCB's records for another three years, totalling eight years.
Mr Julapun said the eight-year period for NPL debtors to remain in the NCB's records is too long.
The state's intervention to assist Code 21 NPL debtors should not be seen as compromising financial discipline because these debtors were harmed by the pandemic, he said.
Previously the NCB officials noted even if Code 21 debtors were removed from the records, granting them access to credit at financial institutions would be difficult based on the stringent lending rules of banks.
In separate news, Mr Julapun mentioned the idea of reviving the long-term equity fund, a mutual fund that offers tax deductions for investment in equities.
This proposal is still under consideration by the Finance Ministry, particularly regarding the holding period of the investment units.
He also addressed the volatility of the Stock Exchange of Thailand, stating the decline in the bourse is not related to fundamentals and the country still has potential growth.
Part of the volatility stems from domestic political issues, but Mr Julapun said he believes this instability is likely to be temporary.
