The stimulus budget of Bt14.6bn (soft loans, village fund, SME loans and home loans) is expected to be spent this year. The Government Housing Bank’s ability to extend home loans depends on its board because the MoF does not have the authority to increase its loan ceiling. The MoF permanent secretary expects GDP growth of 3.8% next year on the back of stimulus package. (Than Sethakij, 26/10/15)
Minister of Transportation has confirmed that the roadmap is progressing as planned despite some delays at the beginning, but will pick up speed in the later stages. The ThailandChina speed train is expected to break grounds in 2016. All 6 routes of the twin rail trains are awaiting the cabinet’s approval before EIA after 2 successful rounds of bids. The remaining routes are expected to be approved by the middle of next year by the current government. (Than Sethakij, 26/10/15)
ERC set to revoke up to 70 licences. Up to 70 licences given to very small power producers (VSPPs) are to be revoked after they failed to reach a commercial operation date (COD) after nearly a year. According to the country’s Power Development Plan (PDP), the government aims to buy a total of 19,635 MW of renewable energy within 2036. So far the country has bought 8,834 MW, equivalent to 45% of the target of 19,635 MW. The total amount of renewable energy bought from small and very small power producers is expected to rise to 10,000 MW by next year. (Bangkok Post, 28/10/15)
TOT may hold off lawsuit after approval for 4Gupgrade. TOT might not file a lawsuit against the planned auction of 900MHz licences by the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission as the NBTC’s telecom committee yesterday agreed to allow TOT to upgrade 60 megahertz of its bandwidth on the 2.3-gigahertz spectrum to offer fourth-generation wireless broadband. (Bangkok Post, 30/10/15)
PBOC cuts interest rates. The People’s Bank of China, the central bank, announced on Friday that it would cut the benchmark deposit and loan interest rates by 0.25 percentage points starting Oct. 24. (Xinhua, 23/10/15)
ECB keeps interest rates unchanged. The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided at Thursday’s meeting held here that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.05 percent, 0.30 percent and -0.20 percent respectively. (Xinhua, 22/10/15)
US: Avoids shutdown. Republicans, White House Agree on Debt-Ceiling Extension Until 2017. President Barack Obama and top lawmakers from both parties reached a tentative budget agreement that would avert a U.S. debt default and reduce chances of a government shutdown, easing years of political friction over fiscal policy in Washington. The House plans to vote Wednesday, a day before the speaker election, House Speaker John Boehner said. (Bloomberg, 28/10/15)
US: Global Slowdown Weighs on US Durable-Goods Orders. A strong dollar, weak commodity prices and slow global growth are restraining U.S. factories, highlighting a deepening divide between the American service sector and manufacturers exposed to international turmoil. New orders for durable goods—turbines, trucks and other products designed to last at least three years—offered the latest evidence of malaise at factories. They declined a seasonally adjusted 1.2% in September from a month earlier, the second consecutive monthly drop. (WSJ, 27/10/15)
Singapore’s economy is projected to “expand at a modest pace” for the rest of 2015 and in 2016, said Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in its half-yearly macroeconomic review released on Tuesday. Singapore’s overall GDP growth is expected to come in at around 2 percent to 2.5 percent in 2015, Although U.S. economy has gained some traction, MAS warned that its growth has been largely consumption-driven, and mainly met by domestic supply. (Xinhua, 27/10/15)
Germany frees itself from deflation, for now. Germany has scrambled free of deflation, as prices edged higher in spite of expectations they would remain flat. In October, consumer prices rose 0.2%YoY in Germany after declining 0.2%YoY in September. Economists had expected the EU harmonized annual inflation rate to edge up to zero for October. (Financial Times, 29/10/15)
