Export-Import Bank of Thailand president Apichai Boontherawara maintains that the bank has not suffered any losses from its Bt4-billion loan to Burma.
The Supreme Court ruled last week that the loan extension caused financial damage to Thailand.
At a press conference in Vientiane on Thursday evening, Apichai said the bank was studying the court's ruling and would determine next week if the loan had caused any damage to the state-owned bank.
"For now, we can't determine if the loan caused any damage. But I can say that we have shouldered no loss from the loan," Apichai told reporters.
He said that all the bank staff had complied with the law and government policy in handling the loan.
Burma has been disbursed Bt3.95 billion since the loan was approved in 2004, and it has repaid Bt795 million as interest and principal. The bank has also got a Bt338-million compensation from the government for the loans as the interest rates were lower than the funding cost. Due to better cost management, it expects to ask for less compensation during the 2011 and 2012 fiscal years.
Exim Bank approved the loan to the Burmese Foreign Trade Bank, with Burma's ministry of finance as the guarantor. The loan was meant to finance Burma's purchases of Thai goods, and was considered to be within the bank's power. As the loan amount was high compared to the bank's capital fund and the interest charge was lower than the bank's funding cost, the Cabinet endorsed compensation on the rate differential.
