More cheap NGV loans

Deputy Prime Minister Sahas Banditkul, chairman of the fund, said the extra budget would also cover the opening of more NGV filling stations.

Interested parties can contact PTT for the loans which carry an interest rate of 0.5 per cent.

The credit programme is aimed at increasing NGV vehicles by at least 3,000, saving 100 million litres of oil worth Bt1.93 billion in imports a year and reducing carbon monoxide by 3,200 tonnes a year.

In the first phase of the financing programme  in 2006, Bt7 billion was set aside for retrofitting.

The government plans to boost NGV consumption to 20 per cent of total petrol and diesel consumption by 2012, when 240,000 passenger cars and 88,000 trucks would be running on NGV. NGV stations would then number 725.

The board also approved a Bt1.057-million fund for individuals to borrow at zero interest to buy energy-efficient electric appliances.