The state-owned Government Savings Bank (GSB) is looking to nearly triple its lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to 80 billion baht next year, enabling these firms to better access financial resources.
The bank estimates that 80 billion baht in loans will be approved to SME operators and half will be doled out next year, said president and chief executive Chatchai Payuhanaveechai.
In 2017, GSB approved 25 billion baht worth of SME loans and 20 billion is expected to be taken out, raising the bank's outstanding SME loans to 100 billion by year-end.
To achieve the aggressive SME loan target, the bank will set up a lending team tasked exclusively with SMEs, Mr Chatchai said.
The bank's SME target customers are those with an annual income of up to 50 million baht, as this segment finds it difficult to access loans from commercial banks.
Innovative SMEs, startups and SMEs engaged in tourism -- particularly community-based tourism operators, franchises and food trucks -- are GSB's focus, Mr Chatchai said.
He said over 30 million foreign tourists visit Thailand annually but only large hotels reap the benefits.
If these tourists spend 1,000 baht each in local areas, about 30 billion baht will be earned per year by local people.
SMEs have been hit hard by the uneven recovery, and many have not seen gains from the economic and export rebounds.
Moreover, most of the smaller operators are struggling to secure loans because commercial banks consider them to be at risk of default.
According to the central bank's data, soured SME loans ticked up to 4.63% of total outstanding loans at the end of September, up from 4.42% at the end of June.
Special mention loans -- those overdue in a range of 30 to less than 90 days -- also grew to 2.96%, up from 2.52% in the same period last year.
