GSB to help 2m vulnerable people

Government Savings Bank (GSB) has vowed to help 2 million vulnerable people a year access formal credit.

- WICHIT CHANTANUSORNSIRI

According to Vitai Ratanakorn, president of GSB, the Finance Ministry and State Enterprise Policy Office (Sepo) revised the bank’s performance evaluation criteria.

Instead of focusing on maximising profits, the new metric is how effectively the bank can help people access formal credit. This approach aligns with the vision of transforming GSB into a social bank, he said.

Mr Vitai said a large number of people still have either no credit records with financial institutions or credit scores so low most conventional financial institutions cannot extend loans to them. If loans were granted to this group, he said interest rates would typically be very high, around 25-30%.

However, GSB can provide loans to this group at an interest rate of only 12%, said Mr Vitai.