BoT looks to lighten burden for distressed borrowers : The Bank of Thailand is considering adding a haircut method to the third phase of debt relief measures to help borrowers reeling from lower income caused by the virus crisis. Bangkok Post
Exports tumble 23% in shaky June : Worst showing since July 2009 prompts full-year downgrade. Exports fell 23.2% year-on-year in June, the weakest pace since July 2009, prompting the Commerce Ministry to lower its export projection to a 8-9% drop for the entire year from a 5-6% decline in an earlier forecast. Bangkok Post
Cleaning up the Energy Ministry : Sontirat Sontijirawong’s resignation opens up the alleged carousel of corruption to a new player, even as the state monopoly on power slowly continues to be broken up. Since the resignation of Energy Minister Sontirat Sontijirawong, the vacant post has been highly sought after by ambitious power brokers not for its budget, one of the smallest in government, but for its control of lucrative energy contracts plagued by graft and corruption. Bangkok Post
Predee quits Kasikornbank ahead of taking cabinet job : Predee Daochai, a co-president of Kasikornbank and chairman of the Thai Bankers’ Association, who is expected to become deputy prime minister and concurrently serve as finance minister, has resigned from his posts, effective last Friday. Bangkok Post
PM warns students over rally : Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has voiced concerns over a planned gathering today by a vocational students’ group in Bangkok which could provoke a confrontation with the anti-government movement. Bangkok Post
Winner of BoT governor race chosen : Cabinet approves committee proposal. Sethaput SuthiwartNarueput, 55, a member of the Monetary Policy Committee and the prime minister’s advisory team, has been selected as the next central bank governor, as widely expected. Bangkok Post
Traders on board with US$ valuation : Major gold traders have agreed to use the US dollar in order to limit volatility in using the baht, says a Bank of Thailand senior executive. Bangkok Post
Travel stimulus scheme may run till year-end : The deadline of the “We Travel Together” campaign may be extended to increase tourism momentum for the rest of the year, while travel bubbles for tourists will take place in October, says the Tourism and Sports Ministry. Bangkok Post
FPO makes dismal GDP prediction : 8.5% dive tipped to be worst within Asia. The economy is forecast to shrink by 8.5% this year as the pandemic dampens exports and foreign tourist arrivals, says the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO). Bangkok Post
Line Man-Wongnai merger bags $110m : Delivery app Line Man says it will merge with Wongnai, a restaurant review platform, while securing fresh capital investment worth US$110 million (3.46 billion baht) from BRV Capital Management to bolster the new entity. Bangkok Post
@ 9.: i rather believe that the FPO’s GDP prediction of -8.5% might still be too optimistic:
– tourism: it was really only ok for maybe the first 2 months in 2020. international tourism wouldn’t be bouncing back until maybe the end of 2020 at least. domestic tourism: who in thailand will really have the money to travel and spend very much on it this year?
– exports: maybe they will recover a little bit until the end of 2020, but i guess they will still be down quite a lot as other countries’ economies also won’t recover too much as long as there’s no vaccine yet…
– domestic consumption: i think we will see especially in 3Q20 and 4Q20 how this one will develop – after some government support measures (like for example the thb 5,000.-/person for 3 months help package) will have expired.
in total, i wouldn’t be surprised if GDP for 2020 would finally be down 15 % or even more. and this is not including any risks from any entirely possible political upheveals yet…
Not to be overly technical, but GDP represents flows in the economy not the stock, and thus one could be surprised by how low the decline may be should governments’ fiscal stimuli globally kicks in within this q. For Thailand – I should really stop insulting donkeys’, they are innocent animals I’ll just refer to this government as parasites, more accurate.
peter satrapa-binder
@ 9.: i rather believe that the FPO’s GDP prediction of -8.5% might still be too optimistic:
– tourism: it was really only ok for maybe the first 2 months in 2020. international tourism wouldn’t be bouncing back until maybe the end of 2020 at least. domestic tourism: who in thailand will really have the money to travel and spend very much on it this year?
– exports: maybe they will recover a little bit until the end of 2020, but i guess they will still be down quite a lot as other countries’ economies also won’t recover too much as long as there’s no vaccine yet…
– domestic consumption: i think we will see especially in 3Q20 and 4Q20 how this one will develop – after some government support measures (like for example the thb 5,000.-/person for 3 months help package) will have expired.
in total, i wouldn’t be surprised if GDP for 2020 would finally be down 15 % or even more. and this is not including any risks from any entirely possible political upheveals yet…
Pon
Not to be overly technical, but GDP represents flows in the economy not the stock, and thus one could be surprised by how low the decline may be should governments’ fiscal stimuli globally kicks in within this q. For Thailand – I should really stop insulting donkeys’, they are innocent animals I’ll just refer to this government as parasites, more accurate.