Responding to the Thai Bankers Association’s announcement yesterday, of a cut in the minimum retail rate (MRR) for creditworthy customers of 0.25% for six months, six state banks announced today that they will also cut their lending rate for their small borrowers by 0.25%, starting May 1.

The six banks are the Government Savings Bank, the Government Housing Bank, the SME Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank of Thailand, the Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation and the Islamic Bank of Thailand.

According to the Export-Import Bank (EXIM Bank), its prime rate will be reduced from 6.60% to 6.35%.

EXIM Bank president Rak Vorrakitpokatorn said that the latest lending rate cut is on top of the 0.15% cut on April 18^th, adding that, overall, the bank will have reduced its lending rate by 0.40%.

Government Housing Bank president Kamonphob Veerapala said that the lending rate for its creditworthy clients will be cut from 6.795% to 6.545%, effective May 1^st.

This will benefit about 18 million bank account customers, including the financially fragile.

He also said that the bank has introduced a new savings account, to encourage people to start saving by opening a savings account with a minimum deposit of 500 baht, attracting interest of 1.95% if the total amount on deposit does not exceed 200,000 baht.