Thailand
Thailand: GSB, GH Bank and SCB pass on BoT cuts for lending rates
Two state-backed banks — Government Savings Bank (GSB) and GH Bank — and Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) have hopped on the rate-cutting bandwagon by trimming their lending rates, effective from Friday.
GSB is passing on in full the central bank’s 25-basis-point reduction for the minimum retail rate (MRR) and minimum overdraft rate (MOR), said Chatchai Payuhanaveechai, president and chief executive. The new MRR and MOR are 6.495%.
Retail and small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) borrowers, who are the bank’s major customer base, will benefit from the lending rate cut, he said.
GSB will also slash fixed deposit and special savings deposit rates by 25 basis points, but the rates for special current and normal savings accounts and savings lotteries are unchanged, Mr Chatchai said.
Some 1.3 trillion baht, accounting for 60% of the bank’s total deposits, has been ploughed into the bank’s savings certificates, he said.
The new deposit rates come into force on Friday.
“The drought, the delayed fiscal budget disbursement and the coronavirus epidemic are hitting the economy and the public, so GSB hopes the rate cut will help relieve customers,” Mr Chatchai said.
Kasikornbank (KBank) emerged as the first bank to pass on the central bank’s rate cut in full, but limited to MRR. KBank trimmed the MRR by 25 basis points, from 6.87% to 6.62%, the savings rate for juristic persons by 10-12 basis points and for time-deposit rates by 5-25 basis points, effective yesterday.
GH Bank announced a cut to prime lending rates of 12.5-25 basis points, taking its minimum lending rate (MLR), MRR and MOR down to 5.875%, 6.375% and 6.5% from 6%, 6.5% and 6.75% respectively, said president Chatchai Sirilai.
SCB will cut MLR to 5.775% from 6.025% to alleviate the impact of the economic slowdown on big corporations, SMEs and retail customers, said chief executive Arthid Nanthawitthaya.
The bank will also trim savings account rates for juristic persons by 15-25 basis points and time deposit rates by 5-25 basis points.
Kasab Ngernruang, executive vice-president of the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives, expects a warm welcome for the BAAC’s new savings lottery, worth 100 billion baht, after the central bank cut the policy rate to a record low.
The three-year savings lottery will be sold at 500 baht per ticket from Feb 17 through the bank’s branches and its mobile banking app.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1852319/gsb-gh-bank-and-scb-pass-on-bot-cuts-for-lending-rates