The Ministry of Finance has assigned policies to "GHB" through three main missions aimed at improving living conditions, reducing inequality, and creating a database. They are preparing a budget of over 100 billion baht to create opportunities for Thai people to own homes more easily. It is expected that by the end of 2020, total loans will exceed 209 billion baht.

Dr. Uttama Savanayana, Minister of Finance revealed that in 2020, the Ministry of Finance has assigned policies to state-owned banks, specifically the Government Housing Bank (GHB), with three main missions to enhance access to housing for Thai people. The first mission aims to improve the living conditions of citizens, as the government currently has policies to eliminate inequality in housing, given the high demand for housing among the public. GHB has housing loans available and has introduced new measures to assist citizens.

As for the second mission, it focuses on supporting the economic sector, particularly the real estate business, which is a crucial sector that drives the country's economy forward while also creating jobs for citizens. This year, implementing economic stimulus measures through the real estate sector presents a challenge and is a significant role in providing assistance. Additionally, this is a critical time to help improve liquidity in the economy, and GHB has the responsibility and opportunity to introduce special measures for the real estate sector.

The third mission involves utilizing available data technology to maximize benefits by using data to serve the public. Currently, GHB has customer data for nearly 3.7 million individuals, which can be used for various purposes. Meanwhile, the government has data to care for citizens through the Pracharat project card, with over 30 million records from the Pracharat project. In the future, there will be efforts to consolidate various data to drive the development of big data for creating new measures for the public.

 

 

        Mr. Chatchai Sirilai, Managing Director of the Government Housing Bank (GHB) stated that the bank is moving forward to support the government's policies as a state financial institution with the mission of "enabling Thai people to own homes" and adhering to the Ministry of Finance's focus on stimulating the economy, creating opportunities for citizens of all income levels to more easily own their own homes while alleviating their financial burdens. Therefore, they have prepared a total budget of over 100 billion baht to develop four products as follows:

1. GHB Home Project for Love 2020 (budget of 30 billion baht) with an interest rate of 3.25% for the first year, 4% for the second year, and 5% for the third year. For months 37-42, the interest rate will be 0% per year. From month 43 until the end of the contract, for welfare customers, the interest rate will be MRR-1% per year, and for retail customers, it will be MRR-0.75% per year, applicable to purchases of equipment or amenities related to housing.

For the first year until the end of the contract, the interest rate will be MRR (currently, GHB's MRR is 6.50% per year), with a maximum loan amount of 3 million baht per collateral, and the borrower must have a total income not exceeding 35,000 baht per month. The interest rate for months 37-42 will be 0% per year only if the borrower enters into a legal agreement and applies for GHB ALL services and pays installments through GHB ALL. Loan applications and legal agreements can be submitted until December 30, 2020.

 

2. Dream Homes by GHB Loan Project (budget of 10 billion baht) with an interest rate of 3.25% for the first three years, MRR-2% for the fourth and fifth years (currently 4.50% per year), 0% for months 61-66, and from month 67 until the end of the contract, for welfare customers, the interest rate will be MRR-1% per year.

For retail customers under an MOU with the bank's Corporate Synergy project, the interest rate will be MRR-0.75% per year, and for retail customers, it will be MRR-0.50% per year. Loans are available for borrowers who currently do not have any outstanding housing loans with GHB or other financial institutions. There are no application fees. Loan applications and legal agreements can be submitted until December 30, 2020.

 

3. GHB Savings Lottery, Version 3, Pimarnmas Series (project budget of 50 billion baht) with tickets sold at 50,000 baht each, totaling 1 million tickets for the project. Draws will be held monthly, with a total of 100 prizes of 50,000 baht each, and special prizes every quarter worth a total of 10 million baht.

This will start selling in February 2020, and the bank will use the proceeds from the sale of the savings lottery to create low-interest housing loan products worth 50 billion baht for citizens of all income levels, considering loan amounts based on repayment ability without a ceiling on the loan amount per individual.

 

4. Debt Relief Measures for Government Officials and Public Sector Personnel Under Debt Restructuring according to the government's policy to have GHB assist in resolving debt issues for civil servants. Measures have been established for borrowers or co-borrowers who are civil servants or public sector personnel (civil servants, state enterprise employees, independent organization employees, and public organization employees) who are in the process of repayment under debt restructuring or have overdue payments of 61 days or more.

Currently, there are about 10,000 individuals with a remaining principal of 8.3 billion baht, who can use an interest rate of 0% per year during the six-month debt restructuring period, paying 50% of the original installment amount or the amount agreed upon in the debt restructuring. The bank will monitor payment results for three months before considering the debt status as normal, and the payments made under this measure will go towards reducing the principal.

        Regarding the progress in implementing government policies, it includes “Housing Loan Measures of the Government Housing Bank” with a fixed interest rate of 2.50% for the first three years, with a maximum loan amount of 3 million baht. As of January 23, 2020, there have been 11,425 loan applications totaling 21.947 billion baht, with 9,460 applications approved for a total of 17.605 billion baht.

“One Million Homes Project” with a fixed interest rate of 3% for the first five years, allowing a maximum loan of 1 million baht. As of January 23, 2020, there have been 22,442 loan applications totaling 16.506 billion baht, with 21,227 applications approved for a total of 15.086 billion baht.

“Good Homes with Down Payment Support” where the government supports a down payment reduction of 50,000 baht per person for the first 100,000 eligible citizens according to the project criteria, who are in the tax system with an income not exceeding 1,200,000 baht per year in 2018. As of January 22, 2020, there have been 90,507 registrants, with 50,506 qualifying under the registration criteria, and 5,659 individuals have received approved housing loans, with GHB transferring the government-supported funds to reduce the burden of home purchases.

 

However, in 2020, GHB aims to issue new loans totaling over 209 billion baht, a 3% growth compared to the previous year, with a profit target of 14 billion baht. Last year, the bank aimed to issue loans of 203 billion baht, successfully issuing over 215.301 billion baht, resulting in total outstanding loans of 1,209.264 billion baht, an increase of 8.37% from the end of 2018, with a profit of 13.352 billion baht.