BoT: 4% Q3 growth rests on export bump. Economic growth in the third quarter could expand by 4% year-on-year propelled by robust export growth, with year-end festivities expected to shore up further growth prospects in the remaining months, says the Bank of Thailand. End. (Bangkok Post, 1/11/1 7)
Purple, Orange lines bidding expected in Q1. THE Transport Ministry plans to open bidding for the construction of the Purple Line’s extension from Tao-Poon to Ratchburana, as well as the Orange Line from Thailand Cultural Centre to Taling Chan, worth a total of Bt224.11 billion in the first quarter of next year. (Bangkok Post, 1/11/17)
Ministry of Finance ordered BOT to explain about 2017 inflation. The BOT said that the targeted inflation is in the range of 2.5% +/- 1.5% for 2018. (Thai Post, 30/10/2017
Ministry of Finance is studying a Shopping For the Nation program for the last two months of the year, which it hopes would push Thai 2017 GDP growth to 4%. (Thai Post, 3/11/17)
Somkid to speed up progress of EEC Act before the general election brings in a new government, expected before the end of 2018. It expects the Act to be passed before the end of 2017. The Ministry of Transportation said it has eight projects in 2018 worth Bt103bn open for investment. (Thai Post, 3/11/17)
Thai Oct headline CPI rises 0.86 pct y/y, slightly above forecast. Thailand’s annual main consumer price index rose for a fourth straight month in October, slightly higher than forecasts, government data showed on Wednesday, but the rate was still below the central bank’s target, giving it room to keep monetary policy accommodative. The headline consumer price index climbed 0.86 percent in October from a year earlier, the same rate as in September. A Reuters poll projected a rise of 0.82 percent in October. (Times of India, 2/11/17)
Reserve prices set for 5G bids. The telecom regulator has settled on reserve prices for the auction of four 5G 1800- and 850-megahertz spectrum licences, an event that will take place before May 2018 and generate an estimated 150 billion baht. (Bangkok Post, 2/11/17)
Fed holds off on rate hike, opens door to December. The Federal Reserve declined to raise interest rates at its policy meeting this week and said the late-summer hurricanes likely will not have much longer-term impact on overall economic activity. There was little in the post-meeting statement Wednesday to indicate that the Fed would hold off on raising rates again soon. As widely anticipated, the Federal Open Market Committee, the central bank’s policymaking arm, held its benchmark interest rate target between 1 percent and 1.25 percent. Markets also figure the Fed will approve a quarter-point hike at the December meeting, though the committee chose not to tip its hand overtly in Wednesday’s statement. (CNBC, 2/11/17)
China’s manufacturing activity was worse than expected in October. China reported Tuesday that its official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index for the month of October came in at 51.6 — missing expectations. Analysts polled by Reuters expected China to post official PMI of 52.0 for October, down from 52.4 in September. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below that signals contraction. (CNBC, 1/11/17)
BOJ Keeps Stimulus Unchanged as It Trims Inflation Outlook. The Bank of Japan left its massive monetary stimulus program unchanged even as it trimmed its inflation forecasts, signaling further divergence ahead from its global peers. Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and the board voted on Tuesday to maintain the central bank’s yield curve control program and asset purchases, a result predicted by all 43 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The vote was 8-1, with new board member Goushi Kataoka dissenting . (Bloomberg, 1/11/17)
