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Friday Nov 15, 2024
Wednesday, 16 February 2011 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Manila, Philippines: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed a $ 300 million loan agreement with Thailand today for capital market development designed to boost investment and support long term growth.
Kunio Senga, Director General of ADB’s South East Asia Department and Pradit Phataraprasit, Deputy Finance Minister, signed the loan agreement in Bangkok. The loan funds, which will be drawn down in 2011 and 2012, support the completion of ADB’s Capital Market Development Programme, approved in September 2010.
“This loan is part of a series of sustained ADB assistance starting back in 2006 to support the Royal Government’s agenda to deepen and diversify Thailand’s capital market, which is critical to support increased domestic financing of investment and to sustain higher longer term economic growth,” said Senga.
The ADB programme is anchored to the government’s Capital Market Development Master Plan for 2009-2013, which provides a roadmap for finance sector development and reforms over the medium term.
This blueprint aims to develop Thailand’s equity, bond and money markets with the goal of tapping increasing amounts of domestic capital to help the country transform from a middle-income to a high-income economy. The Thai economy has rebounded strongly from the global financial crisis but still needs more access to local capital to drive growth in the longer term.
ADB is supporting the government’s agenda in five areas, including the regulatory environment, market efficiency, liquidity and transparency, market infrastructure, new products and investor protection. A grant of $ 900,000 from ADB’s Technical Assistance Special Fund is also being extended to help the government implement its master plan.
The loan has a 15-year term, with a grace period of three years, and annual interest set in accordance with ADB’s LIBOR-based lending facility. The Public Debt Management Office is the executing agency for the programme.
