State banks guarantee no interest rate hikes! “Government Savings Bank” confirms long-term stability to alleviate the burden of 4.3 million borrowers, urging customers to feel at ease. Meanwhile, “GH Bank” and “SME Bank” also echo the commitment to maintain interest rates.

 

          Mr. Chatchai Phanunavichai, Director of the Government Savings Bank, revealed that the bank will not raise loan interest rates even if the Bank of Thailand (BOT) increases the policy interest rate to 1.75%. This decision aims to assist customers in avoiding increased debt burdens, especially for the majority of individual borrowers, which number over 4.3 million. This includes small business loans, personal loans, emergency loans for debt relief, and over 300,000 home loan customers who will not be affected, so they can feel assured.

 

          “The BOT's increase in the policy interest rate is a response to global market conditions, which may lead commercial banks to gradually raise deposit and loan interest rates soon. However, state financial institutions will keep interest rates stable for as long as possible and will not take the lead in raising rates. The Government Savings Bank anticipates maintaining current rates until next year. If the BOT raises rates twice, it will not impact fixed-rate loans or loans based on reference rates such as MRR and MLR. The trend for the BOT's interest rate adjustments next year is expected to see an increase of 0.5-1%, likely after the election period,” Mr. Chatchai stated.

 

          Additionally, the bank has launched the “Government Savings Bank Brings Happiness” campaign to expand its customer base for small loans. Customers who take loans under the shop house loan, franchise, and street food loan programs from December 1, 2018, to August 31, 2019, will have the chance to win prizes, including cars, food trucks, and motorcycles, totaling over 72 prizes over six months. This is expected to increase the customer base by 135,000.

 

          Mr. Chatchai Sililai, Managing Director of the Government Housing Bank (GH Bank), stated that GH Bank will not immediately raise loan interest rates for customers, even though the Monetary Policy Committee has approved a 0.25% increase in the policy interest rate. The bank will monitor the loan market situation in January before considering any adjustments to interest rates, as it does not want to impact over 1 million home loan customers. Initially, it is estimated that if the policy interest rate increases only once, the bank will not raise customer installment payments, and the interest rate may only adjust by half, or about 0.125%. However, if the increase is more significant, it will need to be reassessed.

 

          Mr. Mongkol Leelatham, Managing Director of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank), stated that even though the Monetary Policy Committee has raised the interest rate by 0.25% from 1.50% to 1.75%, SME Bank will maintain the current loan interest rates for entrepreneurs until the end of February 2019. This is to give time for 100,000 SMEs to adjust, as an increase in loan interest rates would impact their costs.

 

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