Consumers borrow more in auto, house, personal and creditcard loans

They have also continued to use future income to maintain their present consumption by taking out more personal and creditcard loans.

According to the Bank of Thailand, hirepurchase loans provided by the financial system for cars and motorcycles totalled Bt334.1 billion in the second quar¬ter.

This was 32.2 per cent higher than in the same period of last year, and a 28.7percent rise from the first quarter.

New mortgages expanded 13.7 per cent year on year to Bt776.4 billion in the quarter, higher than the 11.7percent rise in the first three months of the year.

Loans for purchasing land, however, continued to contract, but at a slower pace. The secondquarter total was down 1.97 per cent at Bt39.8 billion, compared to a 2.9percent contraction in the first quarter.

Creditcard and personal loans increased 11.97 per cent from the same period last year to Bt350.9 billion in the second quarter, com¬pared to a 9.6percent hike in the previous quarter.

But loans for education con¬tracted 13.5 per cent to Bt244 mil¬lion, compared with a 15.6percent rise in the first three months.

The continued rise in creditcard and personal loans led to overall new consumer loans expanding 16.25 per cent year on year to Bt1.5 trillion in the second quarter, against 13.82percent growth in the previous quarter.

Krirk Vanikkul, assistant gov¬ernor of the Bank of Thailand, said corporate loans had also expand¬ed during May, June and July.

"But the private sector has bor¬rowed for working capital, and not yet for investment expansion," he said.

According to central bank data, loans to the manufacturing sector rose by 7.4 per cent to Bt1.68 tril¬lion in the second quarter, higher than the 2.6percent increase in the previous quarter.

Loans for the construction sector fell 23.6 per cent year on year to Bt147.6 billion, compared with a 3.7percent contraction in the first quarter. This indicates a slowdown in private consumption.

Loans for the wholesale and retail sectors, however, jumped 11.5 per cent to Bt1.08 trillion, compared to a 5.9percent rise in the previous quarter.