Thailand Widens Fiscal Stimulus With Tax Breaks to Spur Growth Thailand will extend tax incentives to millions of its middle and upper income groups to fire up consumption and counter the nation’s worst economic slump triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. The concession will allow about 3.7 million taxpayers to deduct 30,000 baht ($96) each from…
MPC sticks with 0.50%, eyes baht The Bank of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to keep its policy rate unchanged at 0.50% yesterday and will continue monitoring the baht’s strength as capital inflows result from abundant global liquidity. The MPC voted unanimously to maintain the record-low benchmark interest rate, assessing that the economy would…
BoT forecasts record contraction The Bank of Thailand has reduced its economic outlook to a contraction of 8.1% this year, deeper than the 1997 financial crisis, but kept the policy rate on hold at 0.50%. The latest economic forecast for 2020 is worse than the record contraction of 7.6% for the Tom Yum Kung crisis,…
Thai banks slash growth forecast around 2% Thai growth may be around 2% or less, said two major Thai commercial banks and a senior official of the Bank of Thailand. Several major Thai banks have drastically reduced their GDP growth forecast for 2020 citing the coronavirus epidemic, drought and fiscal delays. The coronavirus epidemic, the…
Moody’s outlook for APAC corporates remains negative in 2020 Moody’s Investors Service says in a new report that overall credit conditions for APAC non-financial companies will weaken in 2020 • While positive, the US-China trade agreement will not resolve core differences, dampening business sentiment globally • Easing fiscal and monetary policies by major central banks…
Moody’s Sets APAC Sovereigns Outlook to Negative for 2020 19 of Moody’s 25 rated APAC sovereigns have stable outlooks, while four have negative outlooks and two have positive outlooks Moody’s Investors Service says in a new report that its outlook for APAC sovereign creditworthiness in 2020 is negative, underpinned by slower economic growth, a turbulent…
Corporate debt market in Thailand well positioned for further growth Brazil, China, South Africa and Thailand are best-placed for corporate debt market growth says Moody’s Investors Service in a report that analyzed trends in 35 emerging markets. Corporate debt markets in Brazil (Ba2 stable), China (A1 stable), South Africa (Baa3 negative) and Thailand (Baa1 positive)…
Thailand’s loss of trade privileges with US is credit negative The development is credit negative because Thailand’s export-oriented economy is in a difficult external environment given that a broad-based export slowdown and strong Thai baht are weakening the competitiveness of goods exporters and the country’s tourism industry. Thailand’s loss of trade privileges with US is…
Kasikorn Bank predicts 4-6% growth in loans for 2020 Despite the expectation of a sluggish economy in 2020, Kasikorn bank aims to grow its loan volume by 4-6% next year. They it say they will achieve this withs emphasis “on services that meet customers’ business and lifestyle needs, effective cost management and using data in…
Large Thai business feeling the effects of US-China trade war, rise of the baht So what do Thailand’s big banks say? The ongoing US-China trade war and the appreciation of the Thai baht against other currencies is now starting to impact larger corporates in Thailand. Wasin Saiyawan, senior executive vice president and chief of wholesale…