The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME D Bank) has set aside loans worth around 2 billion baht for SMEs in the tourism sector to boost their liquidity, says president Nartnaree Rathapat.
Ms Nartnaree said this "SMEs Re-Start" loan package is aimed at supporting the government's policy of reopening the country to foreign tourists and to improve the liquidity of SMEs in the tourism sector.
Around 500 SMEs in the sector have applied for the loan, with the current application loan value at 1.2 billion baht.
Most of the applicants are in southern Thailand and their businesses range from hotels to restaurants and logistics, she said.
Ms Nartnaree said the bank has extended loans worth 260 million baht under the programme to around 100 applicants.
The bank also teamed up with partners to organise programmes to help SMEs in the sector upgrade the tourism industry and prepare for new trends after the pandemic situation eases.
She said tourism operators are confident about resuming operations.
Around 700,000 foreign tourists have visited Thailand during the first four months this year.
The Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) projects the number of foreign tourist arrivals at 6.1 million this year, down from its previous forecast of 7 million.
The number of foreign tourist arrivals in Thailand was only 400,000 last year mainly as a result of the severe impact of the pandemic, which prompted the government to slap restrictions on entry.
The FPO also downgraded its 2022 economic growth forecast to an average of 3.5% from the previous estimate of 4%, mainly because the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war has affected Thailand's trading partners and pushed up energy prices as well as the inflation rate.
