Government Savings Bank (GSB) has offered a grace period of 24 months to small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) customers to help reduce their principal payment burden.
GSB president and chief executive Chatchai Payuhanaveechai said the move is expected to incur total turnover of 36 billion baht for the SME segment.
He said the lighter repayment burden for SMEs will mean more money circulating in the economy.
But GSB will need the Bank of Thailand's approval in order to recategorise the grace period as debt restructuring, Mr Chatchai said.
Besides the grace period, the bank also has six loan products to support SMEs, with loans worth a combined 15 billion baht.
The first product is called startup loans and is worth 6 billion baht, while the second and third products are mortgage and franchise loans valued at 1 billion baht for each loan segment.
These three loan segments have a maximum lending amount of 10 million baht for each business operator, with zero interest applied in the first lending year and a 1% minimum retail rate applied for the following years.
The fourth product is business loans worth 3 billion baht, with a maximum lending amount not exceeding 100 million baht for each business.
A 1% interest rate is applied in the first year, while a minimum loan rate (MLR) and minimum overdraft rate (MOR) of 1% is applied for the following years.
The fifth product is loans for boosting commerce credit valued at 3 billion baht, with maximum lending capped at 50 million baht for each business.
A loan period is offered within 180 days, while pre-finance interest is 3% MOR and zero interest for the first six months. A 1% MOR is applied for the following periods.
Last is food truck loans amounting to 1 billion baht, limited to 3 million baht per business. Zero interest applies for the first year, while 0.6% monthly interest is applied after one year.