Most local banks have enjoyed a steady increase in new lending during the past several months as consumers and companies alike ramp up their buying and investment plans for the second half.
Trading companies in particular have enjoyed booming growth, with exports in the first half up nearly 20% from the year before.
Yet even as international trade activity picks up, outstanding loans actually fell by 1.8% from the end of 2002 to June at the Export-Import (Exim) Bank of Thailand.
And that's a good sign, according to bank executives.
``The objective of the Exim Bank is to support exporters. During the crisis, commercial banks didn't lend, so we had to pick up the slack,'' explained Tawatchai Treewitya, executive vice-president.
``Now, banks are lending more. And that's a sign that the overall system is working.''
