Thai central bank offers more measures to help debtors

BANGKOK  – Thailand’s central bank said on Wednesday it was offering more measures this year to help debtors, as previous steps and a recovering economy might be insufficient in bringing down high household debt to below 80 percent of gross domestic product.

Thailand’s household debt was at 90.9 percent of GDP as of the third quarter of 2023, among the highest in Asia.

In a bid to tackle household debt, the Bank of Thailand (BOT) from January will offer debt restructuring for those with bad debt or debt servicing problems, it said in a statement.

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Starting in April, vulnerable groups will receive interest rate reductions and support to close their debt accounts within five years, the central bank said.

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The BOT has said it is concerned about high debt, which has hindered economic growth.

In November, the BOT estimated economic growth at 2.4 percent in 2023, down from the 2.6 percent growth in 2026.