Vice President of the Federation of Thai Industries (F.T.I.) is concerned about rising interest rates. Affecting financial costs, purchasing power shrinks New investment brake
Mr. Montree Mahaprukphong, Vice President of the Federation of Thai Industries (F.T.I.), revealed the results of the FTI Poll under the topic “Interest rates are rising. How much does it affect the industry?” after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) resolved to increase the policy interest rate by 0.25% per year from 2.00% to 2.25%, the highest in 9 years, on January 2, 2023, which resulted in costs. Financial conditions have continued to increase, so most FTI executives are quite concerned about the said interest rate increase. In addition, many analysts think that the Federal Reserve or the Fed has an opportunity to raise the US policy interest rate one more time at the end of this year. and may put pressure on the BoT Consideration must be given to raising the policy interest rate again to maintain financial stability. This will affect the industrial sector in terms of the purchasing power of the people slowing down. As the burden of interest rates on loans and household debt has increased, people have become more cautious about spending. The business sector is under pressure that may make it more difficult to adjust product prices according to actual costs. As well as having to delay new investment.
Therefore, F.T.I. executives would like to ask the government to consider measures to alleviate the impact of rising interest rates, such as Ask the state bank to support low-interest loan measures for SMEs to enhance liquidity for entrepreneurs. There is supervision of the difference between deposit and loan interest rates (Spread) to reduce the difference. Including adjusting the loan application conditions of commercial banks to reduce the burden and help entrepreneurs access capital more easily, and requesting that the BoT consider delaying the increase in the policy interest rate during this period.
Regarding measures to solve the problem of household debt that is currently at a high level and is putting pressure on the Thai economy, the executives
F.T.I. proposes that the government raise the household debt problem as an urgent agenda item to solve the problem throughout the system. From taking care of people’s living expenses, such as travel expenses, electricity, water, etc., in order to reduce the burden so that people have more money to spend. Promotion of employment Create new careers and provide opportunities for the elderly to earn income from work Issuing measures to create positive incentives (Incentives) for good debtors and encourage people to use assistance measures in debt restructuring. both in terms of financial institution debt and informal debt This will require cooperation from many agencies, both public and private. Including budget allocation from the government to help solve the comprehensive household debt problem.
Source: Thai News Agency