The Cooperative Promotion Department (CPD) has established a panel to study proposed increased investment in Thai Airways International (THAI).
Wisit Srisuwan, the department's director-general, said that a subcommittee on investment under the National Committee on Cooperative Development (NCCD) on Friday considered a proposal that 87 cooperatives, all of them THAI creditors, be allowed to invest in debentures to raise capital and buy THAI's shares so they can convert debt into equity shares.
THAI owes 45 billion baht in debt to the cooperatives. The proposal was submitted by the Federation of Savings and Credit Cooperatives of Thailand.
The cooperatives argued that the proposal will boost THAI's financial liquidity and help the airline benefit from its rehabilitation plan.
The proposal is likely to help the cooperatives reduce bad loans with the help of the NCCD, though the subcommittee still needs further information on risk management because the rating for THAI's debentures has been downgraded, Mr Wisit said.
"The panel will study the financial liquidity of the 87 cooperatives to see how much investment can be increased without its affecting their operations and the confidence of members," he said.
The findings must be submitted to the subcommittee within one month, Mr Wisit said. He added it will present its recommendations to the NCCD in March.
