Economy and commerce

Thai stocks surged as trading resumed after the Chakri Memorial Day holiday, boosted by rising optimism about a waning coronavirus outbreak and the government’s new economic stimulus.The benchmark SET Index rose 6.7% as of 4.58pm in Bangkok, poised for the highest gain since March 11. ...

The cabinet on Tuesday approved 1.9-trillion-baht spending to help people and businesses affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), including 600 billion baht for six-month cash giveaways and 500-billion-baht soft loans for small and medium-sized businesses.The package, the third phase of the stimulus programme to ...

Thailand’s new package of economic measures to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak will be worth about 10% of its gross domestic product (GDP), Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said on Friday.The package will cover all economic sectors for at least the next six ...

Thailand’s cross-border trade fell by 6.5% year-on-year in the first two months of 2020 as the spreading coronavirus snarled the global economy and logistics systems, particularly in southern China.The Foreign Trade Department on Tuesday said the country’s overall cross-border trade, including transit trade, totalled 171.31 ...

A fresh batch of relief measures for people and businesses affected by the outbreak, farmers and capital market stabilisation is set to go before the economic ministers’ meeting today before being forwarded to the cabinet next Tuesday.The government hopes the measures will suffice to buffer ...

The government on Friday unveiled plans for fresh government stimulus as well as rule changes to improve monetary policy flexibility, stepping up efforts to cushion the blow from the novel coronavirus outbreak.The latest stimulus would be funded by new borrowing and reallocation of the existing ...

The economy is expected to contract every quarter this year, with the nadir in the second quarter, according to a senior official at the Bank of Thailand.The contraction should narrow in the third and fourth quarters before turning around next year, said Don Nakornthab, senior ...

The Industry Ministry plans to roll out rescue measures by suspending debt payments for 6-12 months for small community enterprises for several industries affected by the Covid-19 outbreak.The measure covers businesses in food, drinks, herbs, jewellery, souvenirs and clothing. Local producers can apply for debt ...

A new stimulus package to alleviate the impact of the coronavirus crisis will be worth more than 500 billion baht, the finance minister said on Monday.It has already introduced two packages, the first to inject 400 billion baht into the economy and the second, worth ...

The government is mulling an emergency decree to enable it to borrow more money to support the economy over the next two to three months.The Finance Ministry has been asked to work on a “big” stimulus package, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said on Friday ...