New Gsb Schemes target Motorists, home Borrowers

Motorists can apply for GSB's Saithong Anekprasong loan to install an engine powered by natural gas for vehicles, or seek a loan to buy a new vehicle powered by alternative fuel, or borrow just to repair their cars.

Loans of up to Bt50,000 are offered for retrofitting NGV engines, with interest of 5 per cent per annum and a repayment period of up to three years. The borrower will have to offer a personal guarantee, but collateral is not required.

The GSB will lend up to Bt 1 million to buy or repair a car, but not more than 70 per cent of collateral value. The bank will charge the minimum lending rate (MLR) - currently 6.87 per cent per annum - with a repayment period of up to 15 years. The borrower must be at least 20 years old, but not more than 65 at the end of the repayment period, and has to open a savings or time-deposit account with the bank.

GSB also offers loans to buy energy-efficient air-conditioners, said Woravit.

The bank has also come up with GSB Plus loans to boost the spending power of mortgage borrowers. The loans are available to anyone with a mortgage of Bt500,000 or more from a financial institution who has not defaulted on payments in the past two years and has monthly income of at least Bt15,000. GSB customers get priority. The loan can be up to five times the applicant's monthly income, but not more than Bt200,000. The maximum repayment period is 3 years, with an interest rate of MLR plus one per cent per annum.

Those who have paid their mortgage instalments for a year can also apply, but the loan will not be more than the total amount of mortgage repaid. The repayment period is five to seven years, with interest of MLR minus 0.5 per cent.

GSB is also offering loans to doctors, nurses, civil servants, military personnel, schoolteachers and government employees.

Woravit said GSB would also offer microcredit to low-income groups under the People Bank scheme. In order to lessen the risk, the bank will launch career-training programmes for borrowers in the second half of this year, he said.

GSB's financial position remains strong, he said. As of March 31, total outstanding lending was Bt477.30 billion, up 7.7 per cent on year. New lending accounted for Bt7.66 billion, 24.7 per cent of the lending target this year. Profit jumped 52.8 per cent to Bt3.46 billion. Non-performing loans rose 1.1 per cent to Bt17.72 billion. However, NPLs to outstanding loans dropped to 4.13 per cent from 4.49 per cent.