MRTA expects to finalize PPP plan for its West Orange rail project (Thailand Cultural Center – Bang Khunnon) worth Bt110bn, with board approval on civil work (Bt85bn) within May. (MGR Online, 30/4/18)

Ministry of Industry elaborates on Alibaba’s investment plan. It will enter a 10-year leasing contract with local industrial estates to establish a logistics hub. The ministry expects to close a deal with Air Asia to set a regional MRO hub in U-Tapao, following the Airbus deal. There will be a joint incentive package by EEC, BOI, and MoI to boost the airplane spare parts manufacturing business in the EEC area. (Prachachart Turakij, 30/4/18)

BoT will allow foreign players to launch payment service in Thailand, expecting to see more financial service innovations. Existing players can register with the BoT within 120 days. There will be more competition, but it will not be easy for foreign banks as the local banks have already dropped their digital transaction fees, said a local banker. (Prachachart Turakij, 27/4/18)

Ministry of Commerce reports Thailand core inflation improved to 0.62% while headline inflation jumped to 1.07% in April, the highest in 14 months, on the back of rising prices for fuel and fresh food. The MoC says rising inflation reflects improving domestic spending, but not the impact of higher minimum wage. (Bangkok Biz, 2/5/2018)

Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE) expects the “Thai Niyom Yang Yuen”, a grassroots stimulus project funded by supplementary budget worth Bt25bn, will revive farmer spending. The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives will disburse this budget through two projects: 1) Structural reform of the agricultural sector, and 2) improving living standards for farmers. (Thai Rath, 2/5/2018)

Factory operating permits applications up but value down. The Department of Industrial Works says the number of request for factory operating permits (Ror Ngor 4) from January to April this year increased 1.1% but investment value dropped 24.5% to Bt92bn. The biggest investments are from four sectors: food, rubber, metal, and agriculture. (Thai Rath, 3/5/2018

Sterling tumbled to a two-month low against the dollar on Friday after Britain’s economy slowed far more than expected in the first quarter of 2018, slashing expectations the Bank of England will raise interest rates in May. The UK economy grew at its slowest rate since 2012 in the first quarter of the year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said. GDP growth was 0.1%, down from 0.4% in the previous quarter, driven by a sharp fall in construction output and a sluggish manufacturing sector. (CNBC, BBC, 27/4/18)

Argentina acts to defend the peso. In order to defend the peso stumbling, Argentina’s central bank on Thursday raised its benchmark interest rate by another 300 basis points to 33.25 percent, its second surprise rate increase in less than a week. The country’s peso currency closed at an all-time low of 21.2 per U.S. dollar on Wednesday, the first trading day since the bank hiked the rate to 30.25 percent from 27.25 percent on Friday. (CNBC, 4/5/18

U.S. President Donald Trump has postponed the imposition of steel and aluminum tariffs on Canada, the European Union and Mexico until June 1, and has reached agreements for permanent exemptions for Argentina, Australia and Brazil, the White House said on Monday. (Reuters, 30/4/2018)

Fed holds steady. Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged at 1.50-1.75% on Wednesday, acknowledging U.S. inflation is close to target without indicating any intention to veer from their gradual path of interest-rate increase. Policy makers may have signaled their willingness to allow inflation to exceed their 2 percent goal somewhat by adding reference to the “symmetric” nature of their target. (Bloomberg, 3/5/2018)