The central bank did not disclose the number of existing PD borrowers participating in the debt restructuring programme. As of February this year, there were 1.33 million general PD accounts under the central bank's definition, totalling 60.9 billion baht, and 480,000 severe PD accounts, amounting to 14.4 billion baht, according to central bank data. She said the central bank requires financial institutions to offer the PD programme to borrowers, but participation is voluntary. The programme aims to help PD borrowers exit the debt cycle, partially addressing the country's household debt problem. In addition, Ms Suwannee said the central bank implemented a responsible lending (RL) approach this year to address the country's household debt problem.
