Government Savings Bank (GSB) has delayed its plan to file lawsuits against customers with non-performing loans (NPLs) for four months, giving them more time to seek ways to address the problem, says bank president Vitai Ratanakorn.
Mr Vitai said the customers who will benefit from this delay comprise 70,000 accounts.
During the delay, these customers can hold talks with the bank on debt restructuring deals.
He said GSB would delay court filings until June 30 this year.
The cases cover filings to seize assets, declare bankruptcy and foreclosures.
The relief is for customers who have been adversely affected by the pandemic and became NPLs prior to Dec 31, 2021.
The relief measure covers four loan types: personal loans; loans for low-income earners; loans for teachers and educational personnel; and loans for small and medium-sized enterprises that borrowed less than 20 million baht.
The delay also covers NPL customers who earlier signed contracts with GSB in court to resume repaying overdue debt. This group repaid debt again until the period from April 1, 2020 to Dec 31, 2021, when they were hamstrung by the pandemic, said Mr Vitai.
This year GSB is focused on resolving household debt for its customers, in line with the government's policy to mitigate the financial impact of the pandemic on households, he said.
According to a report by the National Economic and Social Development Council, household debt stood at 14.4 trillion baht, accounting for 89.3% of GDP, in the third quarter of last year. Of the total debt, 1.4 trillion baht belonged to teachers.
Thailand has seen a surge of household debt since the start of the pandemic.
Household debt stood at 79.8% of GDP in the fourth quarter of 2019.
