The NCB would hold a meeting and make a decision this month, said the agency's chief executive officer, Niwat Kanjanaphoomin.

"The shortened period for bad debtors would be available only for the short term.

Once the economy recovers, the record duration will probably go back to three years," he said.

Because of the gloomy economy many loan applicants have been rejected by financial institutions. Certain parties have asked the bureau to ease its rule in the belief it would stimulate mortgage-loan approval and help the sluggish market.

Niwat, however, said that 32-33 per cent of loan applications rejected by banks were based on applicants' earnings; 30 per cent on credit information from the bureau; 25 per cent on other conditions; 10 per cent during the primary information processing and 2 per cent from lack of information.

The bureau hopes the rule relaxation will help consumers and boost bank loans.

Even though credit records would be held for a shorter period, banks would still consider borrowers' capability to repay debts.

Normally, credit information for the first 12 months represents loan performance, while in the 13th to 24th months it reflects borrowers' behaviour.

The agency yesterday signed a contract with four asset management compa-nies for credit information reports.

The four AMCs have around 32,000 debtors who are required to report credit information to the bureau.

 Somruedi  Banchongduang

 The Nation