THE COUNTRY'S biggest lender to small and medium-sized enterprises, Kasikornbank, will limit growth of its outstanding loans this year to 7 per cent despite its above-target first-half results as it wants to focus on existing clients before chasing new ones next year.
Executive vice president Patchara Samalapa said the bank was also attempting to encourage SME clients to use fund transfers instead of cash, which most of them prefer. If the bank can push SMEs into using fund transfers, that could boost revenue for KBank's SME business division, he said.
Patchara said it would not be difficult to boost new loans in the current second half because the prospects for the economy are brighter. However, the bank does not want the loan portfolio to grow by more than 7 per cent - it believes looking after its existing customers well will be beneficial in the long run.
"The overall business outlook is set to improve in the second half of this year, while SME loans for the entire year are anticipated to reach Bt553.45 billion, up 7 per cent year on year," he said