Thai govt’s debt settlement programme attracts over 150,000

The Thai government’s debt settlement programme has attracted over 150,000 registrations, totalling informal debts of nearly 12 billion baht (US$337 million), the Interior Ministry reported. So far, the initiative has facilitated the settlement of over 771 million baht (US$22 million) in debt for 18,509 individuals.

The registration window spanned from December 1 to February 29. Suttipong Juljarern, the permanent secretary of the ministry, disclosed that the 151,175 registered debtors owed an impressive 11.732 billion baht (US$330 million) to an extensive network of 125,302 creditors.

In the breakdown of regional data, Bangkok recorded the highest number of registrations, with 10,091 debtors owing 1.065 billion baht (US$30 million) to 9,047 creditors. Conversely, Mae Hong Son had the least, with 406 debtors owing 18.819 million baht (US$530,00) to 316 creditors, reported Bangkok Post.

The data also revealed that 28,725 debtors have commenced discussions with their creditors. Of this number, 18,509 have successfully renegotiated terms, reducing their collective debts from 2.626 billion baht (US$73.6 million) to 1.855 billion baht (US$52 million).

Nakhon Sawan emerged as the province with the highest success rate in negotiations, with 518 people managing to reduce their debts from a total of 287.587 million baht (US$8 million) to 234.076 million baht (US$6.5 million).

Now that the registration phase has concluded, the government is keen to continue assisting registered debtors in settling their debts. It aims to encourage all debtors nationwide to enter into discussions with their creditors.

However, the programme’s results have not entirely met the expectations of Prime Minister and Finance Minister Srettha Thavisin. On Thursday, he discussed strategies to increase registration numbers and handle influential creditors with Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul. Additionally, they explored methods to facilitate debtor-creditor negotiations.

In related news, the Ministry of Finance proposed a plan to the Cabinet to assist informal debtors, allocating a budget of 15 billion baht through the Government Savings Bank (GSB) and the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC).