Thai Finance Ministry to ease debt relief criteria
Debt relief criteria set to relax under new You Fight, We Help Initiative
The Thai Finance Ministry is considering easing debt relief criteria under the You Fight, We Help programme, allowing those with a single day of default to participate. Deputy Finance Minister Paophum Rojanasakul announced that discussions with the Bank of Thailand are ongoing to broaden the eligibility criteria.
The proposed changes aim to expand the Pay On Time, Keep Asset measure, initially requiring a minimum 30-day default by October 30, 2024. The updated criteria will include debtors with a history of defaulting for just one day and those who have restructured their debt previously.
The measure targets to assist home loans up to 5 million baht, car loans up to 800,000 baht, motorcycle loans up to 50,000 baht, and SME loans up to 5 million baht.
Debt restructuring will reduce instalments by 50% in the first year, 70% in the second, and 90% in the third, while interest payments are postponed for three years, with instalments reducing the principal directly.
Additionally, the Pay, Close, End measure will broaden its scope. It will now include unsecured bad debts up to 10,000 baht per account and secured bad debts up to 30,000 baht per account, raised from the previous 5,000 baht limit. Debtors can settle their accounts by paying a minimum of 10% of the outstanding debt.
The programme, which has garnered significant interest, is currently set to run until June 30, 2025, with plans for further extension. These amendments are expected to be presented to the Cabinet for approval by June 2025, reported KhaoSod.
In other Finance Ministry news, the ministry announced the release of a commemorative 100 baht banknote to mark its 150th anniversary. The note, which could legally be used for transactions, was issued on April 14.
The announcement was published on the Royal Gazette’s website, detailing the characteristics, colour, and size of the commemorative note.
Signed by Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira, the announcement specified that the Bank of Thailand would be responsible for issuing the 100 baht commemorative banknote in recognition of the ministry’s establishment anniversary.
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