TH General Insurance Association sees Covid insurance policies exceeded 10.65m, 100k-200k policies sold/day, April Covid claims alone 5x above Bt77.3m FY20 entire year claims.
Export target likely to exceed 4% after Q1 bump: The Commerce Ministry plans to upgrade its export growth forecast to more than 4% after Thai export value in March recorded 8.47% growth, driven by intensive economic stimulus policies in trading countries, worldwide vaccinations and higher crude oil prices. Bangkok Post
Government will adopt a single command system to improve the efficiency of the national vaccination drive, with the aim of inoculating about 30m people over next 3 months and 50m by the end of year. Deputy PM said things will improve in 2 weeks, while Health Minister said 2-3 months to return to normal.
Prime Minister was the 1st to be fined B6,000 in BKK for breaking mask rule at Covid meeting.
Samples of AstraZeneca vaccine licensed to be produced locally by Siam Bioscience have passed the standard set by the Dept of Medical Sciences (DMS).
Average household debt for Thai workers recorded a historic surge of almost 30% to around Bt205,000 in 2021 when compared with 2019, driven by the pandemic, says the UTCC.
Sweeping powers for PM: Cabinet cedes 31 laws to curb Covid. The cabinet has granted the prime minister power to temporarily enforce 31 items of legislation to curb the spread of Covid-19, while a medical expert has called for the rapid rollout of vaccines. Bangkok Post
TCC urges govt to support local antiviral drug production: The Thailand Consumers Council (TCC) yesterday called on the government to support the Government Pharmaceutical Organisation (GPO) make its own favipiravir – the antiviral medicine used as a treatment for Covid-19. Bangkok Post
Private sector unsure on jab imports: Business groups seek speedier vaccinations. The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) will go ahead with its plan to import vaccines for companies which want to distribute them to employees, while the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) accepted that it might be too late for the private sector to procure vaccine supplies amid intense global demand. Bangkok Post
Growth forecast revised down to 2.3%: The Finance Ministry’s Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) yesterday slashed its economic growth forecast for the second time to 2.3% this year from its earlier prediction in January of 2.8% and 4.5% in Oct 2020, attributing largely to the battered tourism sector due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Bangkok Post
