BoT: Industrial production little affected in flood-hit areas

BANGKOK, Nov 6 -- Commercial bank lending to business operators in Thailand which has been severely hit by flash floods since last month will not be reduced while the industrial production and service sectors are not hurt much, a senior Bank of Thailand (BoT) official said.

Krirk Vanikkul, assistant BoT governor, said damage from the current flooding in a number of provinces nationwide is still lower than combined assets of commercial banks operating in the country.

However, banks are responsible to closely offer assistance to their debtors, said Mr Krirk, adding that the BoT will assess damages after being informed by banks first after the floods recede.

Mr Krirk said that the flooding would not reduce bank lending as most of it was given to the industrial and service sectors and not to the agricultural sector which forms less than 10 per cent of gross domestic product.

Manufacturing production continued to operate during the flooding, Mr Krirk said.

BoT had thought of providing soft loans to people affected by floods but it could not due to regulations and what it could do now is to closely monitor the situation and confer with commercial banks on damages incurred from the heavy floods, he said.

Suchada Kirakul, another BoT assistant governor, said the four days of severe flooding in Hat Yai, restricting access to the bank beginning Tuesday, did not hamper the operations of the the central bank regional office there as it remained in communication with either the headquarters in Bangkok or with another BoT regional office in Surat Thani province, currently also hit by torrential rains and floods.

Mrs Suchada said people could still withdraw money from automatic teller machines (ATMs) installed at department stores, despite over 130 ATM machines in the South having been submerged.

She said whether the BoT branch in Hat Yai branch remains closed Monday depends on the situation. (MCOT online news)