BANGKOK, Oct 27 (TNA) – Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij on Monday said that the Ministry of Finance supports the Bank of Thailand (BoT) plan to establish microfinance to address informal debts.

Under the plan, persons with sufficient capital will be permitted to seek a license to provide financial services to local people at the grass-roots level to ensure they have an easier access to sources of funds.

He said details of the plan would be raised for discussion at the meeting of economic ministers. It is expected the plan would be wrapped up and proposed to the cabinet for consideration soon.

Additionally, to serve the increased loan demand under the Thai Khem Keng (strong Thailand) scheme, Mr. Korn said, the ministry policy is to have the state-owned Krung Thai Bank play a key role in lending to entrepreneurs, particularly contractors and operators of supporting business, to ensure they have sufficient liquidity.

KTB has the potential to carry out the goal as it increased its target lending from Bt300 to Bt450 billion this year.

He said the economy shows clear signs of recovery, boosted by increased demand both internally and externally.

However, the recovery had not yet come from expansion of private-sector investment, he said. (TNA)

Source: Ministry of Finance