Economy

Trade barriers including tariff and non-tariff restrictions will be limited to support the economies of ASEAN members amid the coronavirus pandemic, Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh said in a statement. Vietnam, who is also the chair for this year’s Asean summit, hosted an online meeting with economic ministers in Southeast Asia and China, Japan and South …

Stocks rallied Friday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) as ample global financial liquidity moved into equities to chase higher yields. Amid hopes of an economic recovery and further loosening of lockdown measures. The SET index rose by 36.83 points or 2.7% to close at 1,411.01 points in turnover worth 122.7 billion baht. Shares in the banking sector and …

Special Staff of the Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs), Arya Sinulingga, noted that the total government debt to the state-owned company has reached Rp 108.48 trillion. The debt comes from seven companies. He detailed the total government debt that must be paid to PT PLN (Persero) reached Rp 48.46 trillion. PT Pertamina Persero IDR 40 trillion, BUMN Karya IDR 12.16 …

The Ministry of Finance plans to issue state debt securities (SUN) specifically for overseas diaspora or diaspora bonds by the end of 2020. It is expected that the issuance can be carried out around November 2020 if the relevant ministry ministries are ready. This Diaspora bond has become one of the government’s moves to meet the funding needs of Covid-19 …

No one expected that the year 2020 would start off with a global pandemic and how COVID-19 pandemic would effect Thailand’s economy. It all started with the first patients with the deadly coronavirus infection from China’s Hubei province. The wildlife market in the province’s capital city of Wuhan has been named as the source of the infection. The highly contagious …

Thailand’s central Bank has said it’s concerned about a recent rapid appreciation of the Thai Baht and it’s ready to take steps to curb its climb. The rise of the Baht could imperil an already fragile economy, the central Bank said. The Thai baht has risen 2% against the dollar in the past month is among the steepest in Asia. …

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has certainly hit the Asean banks and induced a recession that is now currently affecting majority of the countries in the region. According to Fitch Ratings, They will be downgrading the Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of around 20% of ASEAN banks portfolio beginning March. ASEAN banks portfolio ratings in this period are at around …

MANILA – The World Bank has approved a $500 million (P22 billion) loan to help the Philippines ease the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The World Bank said on Friday, that the fund approved will help the poor and vurnerable household and will support small and medium enterprises by providing financial assistance. The Philippines Emergency Covid-19 Response Development Policy Loan …

The chief of Thai AirAsia (TAA) says it may merge with another low-cost carrier (LCC) to clamp down on pricing wars once flights eventually resume. Thai AirAsia chief Mr. Tassapon has admited to conversations with other airlines. He said if Thailand does not resume tourism activities by July, Thai AirAsia would begin laying off employees. Above all downsizing the company …

The Governor of Songkhla in Southern Thailand has ordered the closure of the Padang Besar border checkpoint due to new Covid-19 Fears. The border closure comes after six of nine new covid-19 patients returned via this checkpoint. Governor Charuwat Kliengklao signed the order, saying the checkpoint will be closed from today for sterilization. The order did not say how long the checkpoint …