Bt15bn expected to be spent for tourism on this New Year (29 Dec – 2 Jan), based on estimates from the Thai Authority Tourism (TAT). This is 13%YoY higher than last year, driven by tourist arrivals and domestic travelers. (Thairath, 18/12/17)
Bt215bn railway project approved. The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) board yesterday approved plans for a 215-billion-baht Bangkok-Rayong high-speed railway project, the SRT’s acting governor Anont Luangboriboon said. (Bangkok Post, 16/12/17)
Housing measures to help low-income people to be proposed to cabinet. The measure is designed to help low-income people have their own homes. This will be implemented first in eight provinces with Bt350,000-Bt450,000 per home. (Thai Post, 19/12/17)
AIS, True want fee delay. Advanced Info Service (AIS) and True Move have joined together to ask the government to invoke Section 44 to ease their financial burden, extending the due date of their last 4G licence payment, originally scheduled for 2019, for another five years. (Bangk ok Post, 19/12/17)
Thai cabinet approved measures worth Bt245bn as New Year gifts for SME businesses. (Thai Post, 20/12/17)
Thai cabinet agrees to start construction of Thailand-China railway. The Thai cabinet on Tuesday approved an agreement to start the construction of the first phase of Thailand-China railway on Dec. 21, said Thai Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith during a press conference here on Tuesday. The cabinet also approved the Department of Highways of the Thai Transport Ministry to build the first 3.5-kilometer section, the minister said. (Xinhua, 19/12/17)
BoT holds key rate, raises economic growth forecasts. The Bank of Thailand on Wednesday kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged near a record low in the face of subdued inflation, and raised economic growth forecasts for this year and next. Monetary Policy Committee members voted unanimously to keep the one-day bond repurchase rate at 1.5%, where it’s been since 2015, according to a BoT statement on its website. All 21 economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted the decision. (Bangkok Post, 21/12/17)
Exports hit 58-month high as nation rides the global economic recovery. THAI EXPORTS soared to their highest in 58 months in November while exports in the first 11 months of the year hit a six-year high, the Commerce Ministry revealed yesterday. Pimchanok Vonkorpon, director-general at the ministry’s Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO), said that exports in November rose 13.4 per cent year on year to US$21.435 billion while imports rose 13.7 per cent to $19.672 billion, leaving a trade surplus of $1.763 billion. During the first 11 months of this year, Thai exports expanded 10 per cent to $216.953 billion while imports rose 14.5 per cent to $202.744 billion. The country recorded a trade surplus of $14.209 billion for that period. (The Nation, 20/12/17)
Crude stocks drop more than expected – EIA. Crude inventories fell by 6.5 million barrels in the week to Dec. 15, compared with analyst expectations for a decrease of 3.8 million barrels. Overall crude stocks, excluding the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, fell to 436 million barrels, the lowest since October 2015. (Reuters, 20/12/17)
Republicans reach a tentative tax deal; Trump says he’d sign a bill with 21% corporate rate. House and Senate negotiators have reached a deal on a tax plan, moving the GOP one step closer to its goal of passing a sweeping tax overhaul this year, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch said Wednesday. (CNBC, 15/12/17)
