39,000 debtors apply to join debt clinic, BoT says

BANGKOK, July 27 (TNA) – The Bank of Thailand (BoT) said 39,000 people have so far applied to take part in the “debt clinic” program since its official launch on June 1. Ruchukorn Siriyodhin, deputy governor of BoT’s Financial Institutions Stability, said there have been 39,000 applications for the debt clinic program as of now, most of them were submitted online and via phone calls. She continued that 102 applicants of the total have qualified and signed a contract to participate in the debt restructuring scheme while another 121 applications, which had been approved, remained pending until the contract will be signed. Still, lots of applications are awaiting approval when Sukhumvit Asset Management (SAM), who runs the program, conducts verification of their qualifications. The BoT in collaboration with SAM and the Thai Bankers’ Association announced the debt clinic program in a bid to tackle unsecured consumer loans that became bad credits in the country. (TNA)