Economy and commerce

Thailand’s economic outlook remains highly uncertain with risks tilted to the downside and the central bank stands ready to use necessary tools to support an economy hammered by the coronavirus pandemic, central bank officials said on Wednesday.Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy contracted the most in 22 ...

Four of Thailand’s biggest commercial banks are hastening moves to stay ahead of the wave of digital disruption now sweeping the country.Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) is in the final year of its four-year digital transformation plan but is already drafting a new plan for the ...

The present Covid-19 crisis was worse than the Tom Yam Kung crisis of 1997, the Bangkok Commercial Asset Management (BAM) has said, adding that non-performing loans (NPL) was of concern for Thailand’s economic system.BAM explained that financial institutions in 1997 had a low rate fund ...

Assurance of a gradual economic recovery has been repeated by Thailand’s financial authorities using empirical evidence, but the reality on the ground reveals more pain in the near term.Despite signs of business activity re-emerging after strict lockdown measures were eased, the Covid-19 pandemic is challenging ...

Thailand’s economy is still expected to contract by 7%-9% this year although exports could shrink less than previously projected as the coronavirus pandemic remains a risk, a group of the country’s top business associations said on Wednesday.The group now predicts exports will drop 8%-10%, rather ...

The Deposit Protection Agency (DPA) said that due to the Covid-19 crisis, more and more people are turning their assets into cash and depositing this money in banks.Songpol Chevapanyaroj, president of DPA, said on Thursday that 80.82 million people had bank deposits totalling Bt14.67 trillion ...

The Department of Fisheries is discussing with foreign partners possibilities for export of Thai bass, a type of fish found in rivers and seas, to Chinese markets that still have high demand to alleviate the oversupply problem in Thailand.Wicharn Ingsrisawang, the department deputy director-general, said: ...

The World Bank expects Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP) to contract 8.3 per cent this year, more than the earlier estimate of minus 5 percent.The bank expects the economy to expand by 4.9 per cent next year, with more than two years required for the ...

The government looks set to introduce fresh stimulus measures, particularly aiming to spur spending by middle- and high-income earners and boost private investment.Deputy Prime Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow said the new measures will be based on the co-payment principle and include the features of the Taste-Shop-Spend ...

The Bank of Thailand (BoT) has said that the country’s limited reopening for international visitors will not significantly help the Thai economy recover much this year, although positive signs  are seen from increased domestic spending, with a strong recovery expected in the second quarter next ...