Finance minister signed agreement to further ease border trades with ASEAN member. The 21st ASEAN Finance Ministers’ meeting in Philippines agrees to ease and facilitate crossborder trade. Thai finance minister signs the 2nd agreement with 6 other nations: Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Singapore, and Vietnam. (PostToday, 11/04/17)
Motor Show car sales drop 4.9% from last year. The 38th Motor Show (Mar 27– Apr 9) reports 1.6mn visitors with total sales of 34,900 vehicles. Car sales numbered 31,000, down 4.9% from 32,500 last year. Motorcycle sales came in at 2,892 units, down from 2,796 units last year. Small electric vehicles for business gained more attention with total sales of 1,019 units. (Thai Rath, 11/04/17)
The industrial work permits application (Ror Ngor 4) grew 17.9% in value. The Department of Industrial Works reports first quarter industrial work permit applications of 1,154, an increase of 0.96% from the previous year, with total value increasing by 17.9%. (Thai Post, 10/04/17)
Government will pull back Bt11.9bn of unused budget from agencies. The cabinet approves a bill to withdraw the unused investment budget from state-owned agencies and reallocate it to central budget which can be disbursed for other needs. The bill will be submitted to the National Legislative Assembly by April 21. (Thairath, 12/04/17)
More solar power approved. The Energy Regulatory Commission, ERC announced it would buy 219MW in solar power from cooperative and government units. The documents will be available on May 15-19, with operational startup for all by December 31, 2018. (Kao Hoon, 12/04/17)
IMF welcomes Greek reform breakthrough. Following an agreement with creditors over Athens’ latest reform measures, the International Monetary Fund has welcomed progress over releasing the latest tranche of rescue cash to the debtor economy. (FT, 07/04/17)
China economists temper growth expectation after Q1. With China’s gross domestic product widely pegged to maintain growth of 6.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2017, some official economists and state-backed think tanks are already predicting growth will slow markedly in the second quarter. (FT, 10/04/17)
Banque de France trims French Q1 growth forecast to 0.3%. France’s central bank has trimmed its growth forecast for the first quarter of this year ahead of the country’s presidential election which kicks off in two weeks’ time. (FT, 10/04/17)
Japanese investors dump French debt at record pace. Japanese investors ramped up their selling of French government debt to a record pace in February as bondholders shuddered at polls showing rising support for eurosceptic candidate Marine Le Pen in the country’s upcoming presidential elections. (FT, 10/04/17)
Italy approves budget meeting EU demands for €3.4bn in extra deficit cuts. Italy has moved to avoid punishment from Brussels over its public finances, as the centre-left government led by Paolo Gentiloni approved €3.4bn in extra budget-deficit cuts in a bid to meet EU demands. (FT, 12/04/17)
