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Registered firms increase sharply in first quarter

Thailand and Bahrain agree to set up Matching Fund

VN-Thailand cooperation in rice trade leads to higher world rice price

UK to invest more in Thailand

BOT says it won’t let interest & exchange rates impede recovery

Upward revision of growth won’t boost lending, says economist

TFRC urges cut in 14-day repurchase rate

Registered firms increase sharply in first quarter

The number of newly-registered companies in the first quarter of this year increased by 13.45% from that of the same period the previous year since the overall economy began to recover.

Orajit Singkalvanich, from the Commercial Registration Department said the statistics on the registration of corporate entities in the first quarter of this year showed the number of newly-registered firms rose by 1,128 or 13.45% to 9,515, from that of the corresponding period the year before. Of this, 4,648 firms are situated in Bangkok metropolitan and the remaining 4,867 in provincial areas with the total capital of 213.72 billion baht. The number of companies seeking capital increase totaled 1,735. Of this, 890 firms are in the city and the remaining 845 in the provincial areas.

There are three top businesses in which new companies sought to operate. These include wholesale, retail and restaurant with 3,440 firms and combined capital of 7.32 billion baht, financial service, insurance, and property with 1,463 and total capital of 4.26 billion, and construction with 1,162 and combined capital of 7.95 billion.

Orajit said the number of corporate entities shut down or declared bankrupt in the first half totaled 2,824. Of this 1,571 are in the city and the remaining 1,253 in the provincial area. The statistics showed the number of newly-registered companies was 6,658 higher than that of closed and bankrupt firms, indicating that the need for business expansion had increased in line with the country’s economic recovery. (TNA)


Thailand and Bahrain agree to set up Matching Fund

Bahrain has agreed to cooperate with Thailand in setting up a US$500-million matching fund, and has expressed readiness to give technical support for the Islam Bank of Thailand. Both countries signed a memorandum of understanding on the joint investment in the establishment of the fund and the bank.

The matching fund has a policy to invest in listed companies on the Stock Exchange of Thailand and non-listed firms as well as large projects. Both countries will set up separate working committees tasked with coordinating efforts to put cooperation in investment stated in the MOU into practice. The committees will consider the investment proportion each party can make in the fund.

State agencies of both countries will be selected to see whether their qualifications are appropriate to join the fund. The bodies will also coordinate with each other to accelerate putting the investment in place. The agencies to be selected must have suitable qualifications and readiness. (TNA)


VN-Thailand cooperation in rice trade leads to higher world rice price

Cooperation between Vietnam and Thailand in rice trade has boosted rice prices in the world market. World rice prices are on the upward trend; 25% of rice was sold at US$183 a ton this month, compared to US$155 ton in the same period of last year. Five percent of rice was sold at US$193 a ton, compared to US$163 a ton in April last year.

The higher rice prices in the world market partly resulted from a deal agreed upon by the Vietnamese and Thai governments in September last year. Under the agreement, Vietnam and Thailand will not pursue the cut-price policy, but will, instead, cooperate in rice trade, aimed to boost both prices and sales of rice in the world market.

The two countries also agree to exchange information on rice trade, including prospects in the world market, and records on sale volumes and harvests.

Volumes of rice exports of the two countries have also risen. Vietnam exported over 400,000 tons of rice in the first quarter of this year, a 30% increase from the same period of last year; while Thailand could sell over 1.9 million tons of rice overseas in the first four months of this year, worth Bt16.76 billion or US$383 million. (TNA)


UK to invest more in Thailand

Britain eyes Thailand as a favorable investment hub in Asia, and is keen to invest more in the economy in various areas, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak. Somkid spoke about his meeting with visiting London mayor, Alderman James Michel Oliver. He said that Britain was interested in investing in several areas in Thailand, as it considers Thailand one of three most favorable investment centers in Asia.

“Mr. Oliver told me that British investors are keen to invest more in the Thai economy, given its friendly foreign investment environment,” Somkid said. Somkid learned that British investors are particularly interested in investing in the Thai stock market, local mutual and matching funds, and even in Thai Assets and Management Corporation (TAMC). “Mr. Oliver told me he will meet with British investors and discuss with them updated investment prospects in Thailand in view of the information he has gathered on his trip here,” Somkid added.

The visiting London mayor also expressed interested in privatization plans in Thailand and provided useful suggestions, as Britain has been successful in privatizing its state firms. (TNA)


BOT says it won’t let interest & exchange rates impede recovery

Bank of Thailand’s governor M.R. Pridiyathorn Devakula has reiterated he will closely monitor local interest rates and currency exchange rates to ensure they do not impede the country’s economic recovery.

Speaking on progress made under the central bank’s interest policy to stimulate the economy, he said the BOT’s next move will be to try to prevent local interest and exchange rates from deterring the government’s ongoing efforts to stimulate the economy. The BOT chief said he viewed the current interest rates were low enough to help jump start the economy and the baht stayed at an appropriate level that could contribute to the export growth.

He conceded the monetary policy adopted by the bank was just an indirect way to stimulate the economy. The government was duty-bound to take a direct measure to turn around the economy. The government’s full support for housing loans had proven successful as it could help the property business pick up. The recovery had caused other sectors to improve as well.

Pridiyathorn suggested the government come up with additional measures to help sustain the economic recovery. “Currently, we have tried both in a direct and indirect path to help stimulate the economy. We have closely overseen the baht movement to ensure it won’t stay at the level that hinders exports,” he said.

Asked whether the BOT needed to further cut interest rates to jump start the economy, Pridiyathorn said he will not intervene in any decision of the Monetary Policy Committee. Still, he said he wanted to see the committee take into consideration interest trends overseas and local economic conditions before making a decision on local interest rate direction. (TNA)


Upward revision of growth won’t boost lending, says economist

Although the National Economic and Social Development Board revised projected economic growth upwards to 2-3%, commercial banks remain reluctant to lend, according to a leading economist. Nimitr Nonthapantawat said he believed the banks will not be willing to lend more until the country’s economy gets back to a grow rate of 5-7% of gross domestic product. He said the capital base of many banks had significantly dropped during the economic crisis. If they want to lend, they need to raise capital.

Current circumstances make it difficult for banks, particularly those in the private sector, to increase their capital. State banks are in a better position to increase capital because the government is ready to help.

Nimitr said local financial institutions still experience many problems. The liquidity in the banking system remains in excess. The quality loan applicants are inferior and the prices of assets pledged as collateral are volatile. Also, many institutions need to be reorganized. “Banks have centralized their operations during the economic crisis. When the economy improves, they need time to decentralize. Bank officers are reluctant to exercise their given power,” he said.

He believes the spread between lending and deposit rates will narrow only when the risk banks have to take from customers of inferior quality has eased. (TNA)


TFRC urges cut in 14-day repurchase rate

The Bank of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee should further reduce the 14-day repurchase rate as it could benefit the country’s economic recovery, according to Thai Farmers Research Center.

The leading think tank said the latest move by commercial banks to cut deposit rates to 1.25% had not significantly affected the actual interest income given the current inflation rate staying at 0.6%. It said total deposits in the banking system still expanded around 4.7% last month, reflecting that the liquidity remained high while the ratio of loans to deposits continued to decline from the end of last year.

According to the Commerce Ministry’s projection, the inflation rate for this year would stay around 1-1.5%, which is lower than fixed saving rates offered by commercial banks. TFRC said the country’s economy had now begun to recover mainly because of an increase in local spending and the capital inflow in the stock market in the first two months of this year.

To maintain the momentum of the economic recovery, it suggested the Monetary Policy Committee consider cutting the 14-day repurchase rate at its meeting on April 22 since it could help stimulate the economy. The move might lead to the outflow of capital to a certain extent, but its effect would not be adverse because the country still has enough international reserve. TFRC said the repo cut would help sustain growth in local spending and investment while the country’s economic recovery remained uncertain. The reduction would also ease the burden of debt repayment in the private and public sectors, resulting in people having more money to spend. (TNA)