SME D Bank heeds the Prime Minister's directive, rolling out urgent relief measures for SMEs in Nan Province affected by flooding, granting the right to defer principal and interest payments for up to 12 months.
Miss Ploithale Laksamisaengchan, Deputy Spokesperson of the Prime Minister's Office, revealed that in response to the flooding situation affecting many areas of Nan Province, Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Anutin Charnvirakul has ordered all agencies to swiftly provide comprehensive assistance in every aspect — particularly addressing the impact on business operations and both direct and indirect damages suffered by entrepreneurs.
Miss Ploithale stated that the government, through the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME D Bank), has responded to the Prime Minister's directive by launching urgent relief measures for SME operators in disaster-affected areas as reported by the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, in order to alleviate the impact, reduce financial burdens, and enable businesses to resume operations as quickly as possible. The measures are as follows:
The "Principal and Interest Payment Deferral" measure — for the bank's existing customers directly and indirectly affected, located in disaster-affected areas as designated by the bank, to help reduce financial burdens. Under this measure, principal and interest payments are deferred for Term Loan facilities for up to 12 months; for Promissory Note (P/N) revolving working capital facilities and factoring loans, the repayment period is extended by up to 180 days, with interest payments also eligible for deferral.
The "Emergency Capital Injection for Business Repair and Recovery" measure — for existing customers directly affected, whose business premises are located in disaster-affected areas as designated by the bank, providing emergency credit lines for immediate business recovery. The loan amount is 10% of the existing credit limit, with a minimum of 30,000 baht and a maximum of 200,000 baht (up to 100,000 baht for individuals and up to 200,000 baht for juristic persons). The interest rate is MLR per annum, with a loan term of 3 years, a 12-month principal repayment grace period, no collateral required, fees waived, and a streamlined document submission process for urgent direct-impact customers.
In addition, the bank also offers supplementary working capital loans for liquidity enhancement, investment, and business upgrading once the flood situation subsides — at a special interest rate of only 3% per annum, fixed for the first 3 years, with repayment terms of up to 10 years and a principal repayment grace period of up to 12 months. These include: 1. the "SME Green Productivity" loan, with a maximum credit line of 30 million baht; 2. the "Pluk Phalang SME" (Energize SME) loan, with a maximum credit line of 1 million baht; and 3. the "Beyond Tit Peek SME" (Beyond Wings SME) loan, with a maximum credit line of 30 million baht.
"These urgent relief measures are voluntary options. Entrepreneurs who wish to use the services may express their intention starting from today onward through various channels, such as all SME D Bank branches nationwide, LINE Official Account: SME Development Bank, the website www.smebank.co.th, and others. For further inquiries, contact Call Center 1357," Miss Ploithale said.
