Thai banking system has large excess liquidity, central bank says

BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand’s banking system has large excess liquidity and the central bank has not tightened its lending supervision, an assistant governor said on Monday, reflecting banks’ reluctance to lend.

Banks‘ lending decisions will depend on debtors’ ability to repay debts, Sakkapop Panyanukul said in an article published on the Bank of Thailand’s website.

The banking system has had a lot of excess liquidity over the past 10 years, as reflected by deposits and investments of commercial banks at the BOT in the past, he said.

Those were as high as 4 trillion baht to 5 trillion baht ($115.64 billion to $144.55 billion), he added.

Thailand’s government has cited high household debt as an impediment to its efforts to spur growth in an economy that has been slow to recover from the pandemic. It has been urging commercial banks to boost and widen credit access.

The central bank’s responsible lending rules only state that banks must consider setting instalments that are appropriate for the debtors’ living expenses, Sakkapop said.

Earlier on Monday, the Federation of Thai Industries said car production and sales have been hit by weak demand as financial institutions have tightened lending for vehicles.

($1 = 34.59 baht)