Economy and commerce

Based on a 2019 study by Facebook and Bain & Company, a global management consulting firm, digital consumers in ASEAN will be spending three times as much in 2025.The joint study found that while consumers in Southeast Asia spent US$125 on average on online purchases ...

The country’s household bad debt is expected to reach 1 trillion baht this year, putting the ratio to total loans outstanding into double digits as debt-servicing ability erodes amid coronavirus-induced income shocks, says the head of the National Credit Bureau (NCB).Non-performing loans (NPLs) are surging ...

Thailand’s e-commerce, excluding business-to-business engagement, is expected to grow 35% to 220 billion baht in 2020, driven by the coronavirus outbreak, says Priceza, a price comparison shopping website.Meanwhile, the competition between social commerce and e-marketplaces is expected to intensify.“In the post-Covid-19 world, the online channel ...

The Thai economy contracted by 1.8 per cent in the first quarter from the same period last year or shrank by 2.2 per cent from the previous quarter after seasonal adjustment, the National Economic and Social Development Council has said.This recession was driven by the ...

The Board of Investment (BoI) will join hands with two state-backed banks to help entrepreneurs affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, BoI secretary-general Duangjai Asawachintachit has said.“BoI will work with Small and Medium Enterprise Development Bank of Thailand [SME D Bank] and Export-Import Bank of Thailand ...

The Bank of Thailand cut its benchmark interest rate for the third time this year to a record low as the economy is expected to shrink further amid the coronavirus pandemic.The central bank lowered the policy rate by 25 basis points to 0.5 per cent ...

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 ...