Thailand borrows 1.5 bln USD from ADB to revive economy hit

Thailand's Ministry of Finance and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) inked an agreement on Monday for Thailand to secure a loan of 1.5 billion U.S. dollars to salvage an economy badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The 1.5 billion U.S. dollars loan was part of Thailand's 1 trillion baht (33 billion U.S. dollars) emergency borrowing scheme to combat the impact of the pandemic," said Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, after he signed the loan deal with Hideaki Iwasaki, ADB country director for Thailand.

The loan for the COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program will mainly focus on securing public health, compensation for those affected by the virus, and economic stimulus packages to revive the economy, said the finance minister.

Public Debt Management Office director-general Patricia Mongkhonvanit said that the Thai government had already made a loan of 338 billion baht (11.1 billion U.S. dollars) out of the proposed 1 trillion baht (33 billion U.S. dollars) loan.