Finance Minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn said recently that Thailand's benchmark interest rate must be cut from 4.5 percent to encourage consumer spending and spur the slowing economy. He also said Thailand needs "counter cyclical'' policies to jump-start the slowing economy. Chalongphob added that the recent reversal of many of the former prime minister's populist policies that showered cash on rural areas had caused "too much of a shock'' and stalled consumption, hurting businesses and the population. "One of the main agendas is to inject more money into grass roots, but try to develop a system that will make it more prudent,'' he said. "Of course you cannot wait until everything is 100 percent prudent until you inject the money, otherwise people will be dead.''
Bloomberg
Bloomberg
Thai Finance Minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn said in a recent interview that Thailand's proposed amendments to the Foreign Business Act are too extreme and should be weakened. The proposed changes, which restrict overseas investment, voting rights in companies and the use of local nominees to circumvent limits, are being revised and should affect fewer sectors, Chalongphob said. The government was under social pressure to crack down after the sale of Shin Corp. to investors led by Singapore's Temasek Holdings, he said. Rather than toughening the Foreign Business Act, Chalongphob said the administration could have simply tightened the Telecom Act and avoided scaring away investors.
Bloomberg
Bloomberg
Daniel Christman, senior vice president of the U.S. Chamber Commerce, said Tuesday that Thailand risks losing investments by U.S. companies after the government announced its decision to break patents for certain HIV and heart drugs. "Investors look at potential destinations and judge how well intellectual property is protected when they decide to put capital in those countries,'' Christman said at a press briefing in Bangkok. "The vast majority of companies that have been surveyed by us have expressed serious concern about the future investment climate in Thailand." The chamber released results of a survey showing that 75 percent of 234 global business executives said that the recent military coup and controversial new economic policies would be factors in their final decision on investments in Thailand over the next three years.
Bloomberg
PR Newwswire
Bloomberg
PR Newwswire