Banking Stocks Soar as BOT’s Measures Aim to Relieve Burden from Thai Banks
The share price of Thai banking stocks surged in response to the new measures from BOT that will help lowering burden.
The banking sector outperformed other stocks in the Thai market with KBANK as the highest gainer of 7% in the morning session in response to the new measures from the Bank of Thailand to support financial institutions and debtors.
Kasikornbank Public Company Limited (KBANK) rose 7.37% to ฿116.50/share.
Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited (BBL) increased 6.73% to ฿111.00/share.
The Siam Commercial Bank Public Company Limited (SCB) gained 5.32% to ฿104.00/share.
TMBThanachart Bank Public Company Limited (TTB) hiked 5.05% to ฿1.04/share.
On August 20, 2021, the Bank of Thailand issued further support measures to assist debtors and financial institutions during the Covid-19 situation in Thailand.
Among the measures announced by the Central Bank, debt restructuring and a reduction in the Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF) made a direct impact on Thai banking stocks.
BOT would allow Thai banks to restructure from short-term loan to long-term, including other methods, which would benefit the banks’ NPL ratio to increase at a slower pace.
Meanwhile, regulators also agreed to reduce the Financial Institutions Development Fund (FIDF) to 0.23% from 0.46% until the end of 2022.
BOT stated that it will also be flexible on debt classification and reserve requirements for banks given the economic hardship for SMEs and retailers.