Economy and commerce

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 ...

The Bank of Thailand kept its policy rate unchanged on Wednesday after last Friday’s unscheduled rate cut of 25 basis points, while trimming its economic growth forecast for 2020 to a 5.3% contraction.The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 4-2 to hold the policy rate at ...

Thailand’s central bank said it has expanded the scope of a facility set up to provide liquidity to mutual funds and it will now encompass all types of money market funds as well as daily fixed income funds.The central bank is ready to consider additional ...

Despite exports falling in February and the stampede of negative factors that have ensued, the Commerce Ministry still sees room for Thai export growth this year.Pimchanok Vonkorpon, director-general of the Trade Policy and Strategy Office, said Thailand is competent in the food and agricultural industries ...

Dialogue partners remain committed to signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) by the end of the year as scheduled despite the spreading coronavirus, which has put off most face-to-face meetings of Asean, the World Trade Organization, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the RCEP in ...