Thai commercial banks demand level playing field vs state banks

Thai Commercial banks after are questioning four state-owned banks' failure to pay the fee of 0.46 percent of deposits to the Financial Institutions Development Fund.

"We will talk about the matter at the meeting of the Thai Bankers Association to find a solution," said Praphan Anupongongarch, executive vice president of Thanachart Bank.

The four are the Government Savings Bank, Government Housing Bank, Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives and Islamic Bank of Thailand.

The commercial banks paid the fee already in July but the state-owned banks have not paid because of unclear enforcement, said Somchai Sajjapongse, director-general of the Fiscal Policy Office.

Praphan said the commercial banks wanted to see equal standards and fair play in the banking industry.

The Constitution Court has ruled in favour of two executive decrees allowing the government to borrow Bt350 billion and to transfer the debt of the FDIF by collecting 0.46 per cent of deposits from all commercial banks and four state-owned banks.

Commercial banks might consider adjusting their strategies to improve their competitiveness while carrying a higher cost than state-owned banks, he said.

He added that state-owned banks should not compete with commercial banks in giving loans, especially to corporate customers.

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