The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand (SME Bank) is set to issue foreign currency-denominated debentures worth up to eight billion baht (US$209m) to fund its expansion into providing export-import financial services.
Chotisak Asapaviriya, SME Bank president, said that, apart from loans facilities for SMEs, the bank was in the process setting up services targeted for export and import-oriented businesses such as packing credits, export credits, foreign exchange, aval and investment banking. As foreign currency is needed to provide these services, the bank is seeking capital from abroad to fund the project.
To pave the way for the planned debentures issuance, Moody's Investors Service has assigned SME Bank with a long-term senior debt and deposit rating of Baa1 and a Prime-2 short-term rating. As SME Bank is wholly owned by the government, the ratings are the same as those assigned to Thailand's sovereign debt.
