Thailand

No amount/estimate: (i) The policy rate was reduced by 50 basis points (bps) from 1.25% to 0.75% during the first quarter of 2020 and by another 25 bps on 20 May 2020 to a record low 0.5%; (ii) 19 June 2020, BOT introduced additional debt relief measures including 2-4 pps interest rate cuts for credit cards (from 18% to 16%) and personal loans (from 28% to 24-25%) effective 1 August 2020; lenders must urgently help borrowers with debt restructuring such as extending payment periods and reducing interest rates. BOT will raise credit lines for credit cards and personal loans for good debtors from August to December 2020; (iii) 24 March 2021, the Thai central bank announced that it has held the policy rate at record low of 0.50%; (iv) 5 May 2021, the Thai central bank has again announced that it has left its key interest rate unchanged at a record low of 0.50%; (v) 23 June 2021, The BOT has, for a third time, announced that it has left its key interest rate unchanged; (vi) 4 August 2021, The BOT has again left its key interest rate unchanged; (vii) 29 September 2021, The BOT has again left its key interest rate unchanged, and is expected to keep it unchanged until the end of this year. [update]

No amount/estimate: (i) The contribution from financial institutions to the Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF) was reduced from 0.46% to 0.23% of the deposit base to provide space for a decrease in lending rates; (ii) Financial sector liquidity-related regulations were temporarily relaxed in order to support Measure 1B; (iii) 19 June 2020, BOT asked commercial banks to prepare capital management plans for the next 1-3 years and to not pay interim dividends in 2020 or buy back shares to preserve capital. As of 11 June 2021, almost one year later, the Thai Central Bank has allowed banks to pay interim dividends. (iv) 27 August 2020, The BOT announced measures to help adversely affected retail debtors, including "debt consolidation" to enable financial institutions to reduce interest rates and extend repayment periods where possible. (v) 28 December 2020, The BOT announced several regulatory relief measures: (a) adjusted the definition of "business group" which determines accesss to SME lending; (b) relaxed criteria for soft-loan applications and included companies with securities listed in the alternative stock market for SMEs; and (c) extended the application period for soft loans by 6 months; (vi) 21 August 2021, The BOT has approved additional measures to assist debtors affected by the pandemic, allowing flexible rules on debt classification and provisions wuntil the end of 2023 to reduce banks' costs so that they can help debtors with debt restructuring.

See also tax deferrals in a(iii) in Measure 5C.

(iii) May 5, The government approved a 20% discount on water bills to private consumers until the end of June. (iv) No amount/estimate: June 2, The Cabinet approved a 90% reduction in land and building taxes for the year and a 2-month postponement in the deadline for filing personal income tax returns. See also (iii) in Measure 5C.

(i) No amount/estimate: 7 October 2020, The Thai Industrial Standards Institute (TIS) announced the waiver of the TIS license fee and ISO certification fee to assist entrepreneurs affected by the the economic slowdown from COVID-19. See also (iii) in Measure 5C; (ii) 27 July 2021, Thailand's cabinet has approved a THB46 billion measure to help ease the virus' effects to individuals, specifically by providing a subsidy to students (THB33 billion) as well as providing COVID-19 treatment and assistance (THB13 billion) to the vulnerable population; (iii) 20 October 2021, THB42 billion in cash transfers and support for individuals, such as through e-vouchers for spending, state welfare cards, and budget for those with special needs. This is part of a THB92 billion total budget, with the other allocations in Measure 5B4 and 5B6 [update].

(i) The government covers the first 6 months of interest and guarantees up to 60%–70% of the THB500 billion loan as part of the THB350 billion that the government will cover (See Measure 2: Loan guarantees); (ii) Reduction of interest on the debts to SFIs; (v) 16 June 2020, THB22.4 billion domestic tourism package approved by the Cabinet including subsidies for tourism service providers, domestic tourists and health officials for July to October 2020. See also (ii) to (iv) in Measure 5C; (vi) 3 June 2021, The government has approved a new 50% co-payment subsidy for employee salaries under SMEs to prevent mass lay-offs in the country; (vii) 20 October 2021, THB37.5 billion of stimulus to help smaller firms retain 4.2 million jobs. This is part of a THB92 billion total budget, with the other allocations in Measure 5B3 and 5B6 [update].

9 September 2020, Authorities are developing new projects worth THB30 billion to support its farm sector and create rural jobs. See also (ii) to (iv) in Measure 5C.

(i) 16 June 2020, THB22.4 billion domestic tourism package approved by the Cabinet including subsidies for tourism service providers, domestic tourists and health officials for July to October 2020; (ii) 29 June 2021, THB7.5 billion funding as compensation for both workers and businesses affected by COVID-19 restrictions in Bangkok and other nearby provinces. On 13 July 2021, it was announced that the total funding would be increased to THB42 billion, with the lockdown starting the day before; (iii) 20 October 2021, THB12.5 billion dollars in economic support measures, which represent the remainder of the THB92 billion total budget, with the other allocations in Measure 5B3 and 5B4 [update].

(i) 8 April 2020, USD500,000 grant under TA: Regional Support to Address the Outbreak of COVID-19; (ii) 24 April 2020, USD750,000 grant under TA: Policy Advice for COVID-19 Economic Recovery in Southeast Asia. (iii) 26 June 2020, USD1.5 billion COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program loan. (iv) 6 October 2020, USD20,000 grant under ADB's TA on Capacity Development for the Supply Chain Finance Program (Phase 2) (Subproject 3). (v) 5 November 2020, USD90,000 grant under the TA on Creating Investable Cities in Post-COVID-19 Asia-Pacific: Enhancing Competitiveness and Resilience through Quality Infrastructure; (vi) 30 January 2021, USD1.80 million Country Support under TA 9950-REG: Regional Support to Address the Outbreak of COVID-19 and Potential Outbreaks of Other Communicable Diseases. As of 8 October 2021, this has again been increased to USD2.2 million [update]; (vii) 30 January 2021, USD10.04 million under the Supply Chain Finance Program. As of 22 May 2021, this amount has been revised to USD66.01 million total, with another USD66.01 million cofinanced; (viii) 29 June 2021, USD0.4 million under the project, Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19 through Community-Led Interventions (Supplementary); (ix) 31 August 2021, USD0.13 million under the regional project, Strengthening Regional Health Cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion; (xi) 3 September 2021, USD0.15 million under the regional project, Supporting Enhanced COVID-19 Vaccination and Post-COVID-19 Health Security Response in Southeast Asia.

(i) USD6.5 million in grants for health and humanitarian assistance from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for health and humanitarian assistance in 2020; (ii) 25 May 2021, A measure has been approved to allow the government to borrow THB500 billion in the local or overseas markets, with the purpose of financing COVID-19 recovery measures. The new debt, raised as loans or through sales of other securities, has to be wrapped up by September 2022; (iii) 5 October 2021, The Thai Red Cross Society has started a vaccination campaign for vulnerable migrant workers, aiming to inoculate about 5,000 workers [update]; (iv) 12 October 2021, Thailand will receive a donation of 470,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from South Korea [update].