Economy and commerce

Commercial banks are expected to post strong loan growth this year, as more large businesses are seeking credit due to the volatile debt market amid the coronavirus outbreak, a senior director at the Bank of Thailand (BoT) said on Monday.Loans grew 4.1% in the first ...

The country’s economy contracted in the first quarter for the first time since 2014 as the coronavirus outbreak cut off tourist arrivals and shuttered commerce.Gross domestic product shrank 1.8% from a year ago, the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) said on Monday. That’s ...

Thailand’s central bank is widely expected to cut its benchmark interest rate to a new low at its policy review on Wednesday to cushion the economy from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.Sixteen of 18 economists in the poll predicted the Bank of Thailand’s (BOT) ...

Thai GDP in the first and second quarters of 2020 faces a sharp year-on-year decline due to the global economic slowdown, widespread drought and coronavirus impact.But prospects are expected to improve in the third quarter onwards, boosted by the 1-trillion-baht plan for cash handouts to ...

The National Credit Bureau’s 104 members saw an upsurge in non-performing loan (NPL) ratio to 8.1% at the end of March from 6.8% a year earlier as headwinds such as the coronavirus outbreak took hold, says the NCB.Bad loans for mortgages, auto and personal loans ...

The troubled debt restructuring (TDR) scheme offered to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was affected by subpar economic growth, a stumbling block for many firms in accessing additional lending as well as the central bank’s sponsored soft loans, says the head of the National Credit ...

The Finance Ministry will raise Bt50 billion from sale of savings bonds to mitigate the Covid-19 impact on the economy and society. The bonds will be on sale from May 14 to June 10 this year.Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana said that saving bonds were one ...

A 400-billion-baht borrowing plan intended for economic and social rehabilitation after the pandemic to strengthen the domestic economy will be added to the cabinet’s agenda next week, with the first batch expected to be doled out later this month.Rehabilitating the farming sector is crucial to ...

Thailand’s economy may shrink 3%-5% this year, sharply down from growth of 1.5%-2.0% projected in March, as the coronavirus pandemic hits global demand and domestic activity, a group of leading business associations said on Thursday.The group also cut its forecast for 2020 exports, a key ...

The Thai Chamber of Commerce is pondering whether to back a controversial proposal to have Thailand join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) to boost international trade in the aftermath of Covid-19.The trade agreement involving a newly formed bloc of 11 Pacific ...