BOT tipped to hold rate at 1.75% throughout year amid low inflation. The Bank of Thailand (BOT) will hold the policy interest rate at 1.75 per cent throughout 2019, Tada Phutthitada, president of the Thai Bond Market Association (ThaiBMA), predicted last week. Short-term government bond yield is also expected to be stable in tandem with […]

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And so banks have started to release earnings with BBL looking like the safest one of the lot, perhaps being a stodgy old banker made more sense as opposed to what SCB et al were trying to accomplish. More numbers are coming out during the week…I can’t help but wonder why JMT and CHAYO (debt […]

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Price controls ‘will hit healthcare’. The Private Hospital Association is calling for the state to bring all public hospitals under the jurisdiction of the Medical Facilities Act of 1988 in response to the government’s proposed price controls on medical services. The move would put all hospitals under the same regulatory framework, requiring each to provide […]

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Bt450bn budget deficit repeats. The state budget for fiscal 2020 is set at Bt3.2trn, up Bt200bn from fiscal 2019 ending Sep 20, 2019, with a budget deficit of Bt450bn equal to that of the previous fiscal year. (Bangkok Post, 05/01/19) Ministry set for first SEOM meeting here. The Ministry of Commerce will host the first […]

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The second week of the year has started with a positive note with the US and China looking to get together to have a conversation on how each countries needs’, desires, wants be satisfied. It is sure to be an interesting and amusing time period – in other words volatile – we’ll likely see strong […]

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Coronation day for King set for May 4-6. The coronation ceremony for His Majesty the King will be held during May 4-6, the Royal Household Bureau announced on Tuesday. (Bangkok Post, 01/01/19) Cost of firing staff cited as a ‘burden’. The high cost of severance pay given to employees is a financial burden on the […]

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No need for any introduction, here’s the full list, enjoy! Byron’s Ten Surprises for 2019 are as follows: The weakening world economy encourages the Federal Reserve to stop raising the federal funds rate during the year. Inflation remains subdued and the 10-year Treasury yield stays below 3.5%. The yield curve remains positive. Partly because of […]

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And so as of mid-day there has been some recovery in the Thai market (looks like it’s the only one up in the region). But the past 12 months it has been dismal, were it not for healthcare and energy the SET would’ve been down -15-20% for 2018 as you can see from the Sector […]

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Higher growth seen for final quarter of the year. Pisit Puapan, director of the Bureau of Macroeconomic Policy under the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) and the FPO’s deputy spokesman, said the economy is expected to further expand at a growth rate of 3.3 per cent during the quarter as domestic demands grow while exports remain […]

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