Thailand plans US$8.3 billion support for small business

[BANGKOK] Thailand is planning a US$8.3 billion support package for small businesses, including soft loans and loan guarantees to boost liquidity, the finance minister said on Tuesday (Dec 2) as the government looks to spark a struggling economy.

The package, approved by Cabinet on Tuesday, includes 217 billion baht (S$8.79 billion) of soft loans from state-owned banks and guarantees of 50 billion baht, Ekniti Nitithanprapas said in a statement.

The package will help increase liquidity and reduce costs through low interest rates for small- and medium-sized businesses, he told a press conference.

“Thai SMEs are running out of breath,” he told reporters.

“Today, liquidity has dried up. We need to inject fuel into this sector to help them regain their strength,” he added.

The stimulus is expected to help 107,000 smaller firms and add 0.36 percentage points to economic growth in 2026, he said.

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Ekniti also said South-east Asia’s second-largest economy could grow close to 1 per cent annually in the final quarter of 2025. In the September quarter, the economy expanded just 1.2 per cent from a year earlier, the weakest pace in four years. It has faced multiple headwinds this year, including US tariffs, stubbornly high household debt, and a strong baht currency. REUTERS