The National Credit Bureau has raised the alarm over the prospect of about 610 billion baht in housing loans becoming bad debts, as it urges the government to come to the rescue of the debtors expeditiously.
Surapol Opasatien, CEO of the National Credit Bureau, said that there are worrisome signs that about 610 billion baht in mortgages may become non-performing loans (NPLs),because many mortgage borrowers, who are mostly low and middle-income earners who bought houses for 3 million baht or less, are late by 1-2 repayments.
Unless these debtors receive urgent help from the government, in the form of debt refinancing, he warned that these loans may become NPLs which, in the long run, will impact heavily on the Thai economy.
According to the National Credit Bureau, Thailand’s household debt stood at 16.2 trillion baht by the end of last year, accounting for 91% of GDP, which is considered to be a significant risk. Of this, one trillion baht is in NPLs, which isdivided into 180 billion baht in housing loans, 230 billion baht in vehicle loans, 260 billion baht in personal loans and the rest in credit card loans.
Surapong Paisitpattanapong, spokesman for the automobile industry at the Federation of Thai Industries, said that car sales for January this year dropped 12.46%, compared to the same period last year, mainly due to increasing household debt and the tightening of loan extension criteria by commercial banks, adding that rejection of loan applications for car loans has increased to 50% of the applications.
