Bank cuts Thai 2020 GDP growth outlook to 2.7% SCB’s Economic Intelligence Center (EIC) has released its latest growth forecast, at 2.7 percent, showing a slow recovery from just 2.5 percent economic growth in 2019 SCB’s Economic Intelligence Center (EIC) has released its latest forecast, indicating that the Thai economy at the end of 2020…
Moody’s outlook for APAC corporates remains negative in 2020 Moody’s Investors Service says in a new report that overall credit conditions for APAC non-financial companies will weaken in 2020 • While positive, the US-China trade agreement will not resolve core differences, dampening business sentiment globally • Easing fiscal and monetary policies by major central banks…
US Treasury mulls putting Thailand on its ‘watchlist’ as a currency manipulator Thailand’s trade surplus with the US has now exceeded US$20 billion. Bloomberg reports that this could trigger the Thai currency to be added to the US Treasury’s watchlist of “currency manipulators”. According to US Census Bureau data, the surplus reached US$20.05 billion in…
Bank of Thailand (BOT) orders banks to revise interest rates and fees Bank of Thailand (BOT) has ordered commercial banks to revise their interest rates, and the fees they charge for their financial products and services including ATM and debit card fees Good news for the general public and SMEs as the Bank of Thailand…
Moody’s Sets APAC Sovereigns Outlook to Negative for 2020 19 of Moody’s 25 rated APAC sovereigns have stable outlooks, while four have negative outlooks and two have positive outlooks Moody’s Investors Service says in a new report that its outlook for APAC sovereign creditworthiness in 2020 is negative, underpinned by slower economic growth, a turbulent…
Corporate debt market in Thailand well positioned for further growth Brazil, China, South Africa and Thailand are best-placed for corporate debt market growth says Moody’s Investors Service in a report that analyzed trends in 35 emerging markets. Corporate debt markets in Brazil (Ba2 stable), China (A1 stable), South Africa (Baa3 negative) and Thailand (Baa1 positive)…
BOT relaxes rules to Curb Strong Baht the Bank of Thailand (BOT) decided to relax regulations to facilitate capital outflows to help promote capital flow balance and lessen pressure on the baht. The Thai baht has been under pressure due to imbalanced capital flows in the current environment of highly uncertain and volatile external conditions,…
Bank of Thailand cuts rate by 0.25% to 1.25 per cent The latest cut brings the Bot’s policy rate to an historical low, which the bank maintained from April 2009 to July 2010 during the subprime global financial crisis. On 6 November 2019, the MPC voted 5 to 2 to reduce the policy rate by…
Thailand’s loss of trade privileges with US is credit negative The development is credit negative because Thailand’s export-oriented economy is in a difficult external environment given that a broad-based export slowdown and strong Thai baht are weakening the competitiveness of goods exporters and the country’s tourism industry. Thailand’s loss of trade privileges with US is…
Kasikorn Bank predicts 4-6% growth in loans for 2020 Despite the expectation of a sluggish economy in 2020, Kasikorn bank aims to grow its loan volume by 4-6% next year. They it say they will achieve this withs emphasis “on services that meet customers’ business and lifestyle needs, effective cost management and using data in…