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SET chief plays down fears of ‘December Effect’
Foreign investors appear to be returning to the Thai
bourse and there is unlikely to be the traditional end of year market
downturn, according to Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) President Kittirat
Na Ranong.
He said that many investors were worried that next month
would see the SET index drop because of the ‘December Effect’
phenomenon, where foreign investors sell stocks to cash up ahead of the
Christmas and New Year celebrations. He conceded that the index had declined
over the past several weeks because both local and foreign institutional
investors had sold shares heavily. However, Kittirat said there were signs
that investors had begun to return to the Thai stock market, and it was
unlikely the SET index would fall in December.
A number of simmering political conflicts were having a
negative impact on market sentiment, but a mass rally planned for December 9
would probably be the culmination of events, and after that things would
return to normal.
Kittirat also criticized the performance of securities
analysts, saying market assessments should be based on a whole range of
factors and not just past events.
He said analysts often projected the SET index would rise
to 800 points when the market was bullish, but when stock prices declined,
they forecast the index would drop to 600 points.
The SET president said that such analysis was not useful,
arguing that a proper assessment of the index had to be based on facts and
the accurate consideration of surrounding factors.
Meanwhile, veteran stock analyst Kongkiart Opaswongkarn
said the market would feel the impact of many negative factors next month,
including the recent postponement of the SET listing of the state power
utility EGAT Plc and a number of other political conflicts.
However, he said the political woes would only have a
short-term effect on market sentiment, and this would ease when investors
had absorbed the situation. Under current circumstances, he advised
investors not to invest for short-term speculation. Instead, Kongkiart
argued they should be opting for blue-chip stocks, which were not vulnerable
to short-term political developments. (TNA)
Cabinet approves additional state loan to cushion cash flow
The cabinet has approved the Ministry of Finance’s
proposed plan to seek an additional loan from domestic sources to cushion
the state buffer stock, or cash flow.
The additional loan of Bt80 billion, which was reduced
from the ministry’s originally proposed amount of Bt100 billion, was
approved at the cabinet’s weekly meeting, according to Deputy Finance
Minister Varathep Ratanakorn.
The cabinet approved the reduced amount of loan after the
Bureau of the Budget had concluded that only the additional cash of Bt80
billion, not Bt100 billion, is needed to boost state liquidity and support
the government’s general administration through increased cash flow, he
noted.
The additional loan is part of the government’s
adjusted public debt management plan of the 2006 fiscal year beginning from
October 1, in which its total loan from domestic sources has been increased
to Bt250 billion, from Bt170 billion.
The government would soon report the adjusted 2006 public
debt management plan to the House of Representatives, said the deputy
finance minister.
Varathep affirmed that the government’s fiscal status
and the country’s economic condition are stable, saying that the
additional loan would only be reserved in the state cash flow.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told journalists that
in principle, cash in the state cash flow or buffer stock should be
maintained to accommodate the government’s planned spending of about one
and a half months, or around Bt150-160 billion in the 2006 fiscal year, in
which a total expenditure budget of Bt1.36 trillion had been set. This means
that the government plans to spend more than Bt100 billion a month.
Currently, about Bt40-50 billion remains in the state
buffer stock and the government needs to seek the additional loan to
increase its cash flow.
The prime minister confirmed that Thailand’s economy
remains sound, with a projected growth rate of 4.5 percent this year, even
though the country has faced many risk factors, particularly global oil
price hikes.
The country’s total public debt of Bt140 billion now is
also controllable since it constitutes no more than 50 percent of the gross
domestic product (GDP), he said. Currently, the total public debt is about
44-45 percent of the country’s GDP, according to the Thai leader. (TNA)
Political tensions will
affect Thai economy, TCC warns
Simmering political tensions are likely to persist and
have an impact on the overall picture of the Thai economy, according to the
Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC).
TCC’s Chairman Pramon Sutheewong conceded that local
and foreign businesspersons have been concerned with the simmering political
confusion and rallies of various civil groups because they fear it could
bring business activities to a standstill.
However, he believed the government would be able to cope
with the political woes, which could normally occur under the current
circumstances.
He said both local and foreign businesspersons want to
see improved political stability.
They have worried about a stumbling block in the
privatization of state enterprises following a delay in the listing of EGAT
Public Company Limited’s shares on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).
They fear the situation will dampen investment atmosphere
and undermine the government’s efforts to seek funds to finance many
investment projects, which will finally lead to a delay in the
implementation.
Pramon said TCC believes that next year, the Thai economy
could experience various risk factors such as higher interest and inflation
rates, southern violence, political woes, and opposition to the state
enterprise privatization.
TCC members have been assigned to evaluate the economic
situation next year. However, TCC would continue to support the existing
management strategy, enhance competitiveness of the local private sector,
strengthen trade ties with key trading partners and boost its members’
strength. (TNA)
Chevron and Uniwise unveil first locally built specialist tug
Suchada Tupchai
The deep sea port in Laem Chabang now has a new
multi-purpose tug, the first of its kind to be built in Thailand.
The multi-purpose offshore terminal tug (MOTT), named
“Uniwise Chonburi”, was built by Chevron Offshore (Thailand) Ltd. and
Uniwise Offshore Limited. It is 45 meters long and can tow up to 65 tons.
Construction of the vessel began at the end of 2004, and although it was
launched late last month, final fittings won’t be complete until January.
(From
left) Lars Seistrup, chief operating officer of Svitzer Wijsmuller; Arthit
Pratoomsuwan, MD of Unithai Shipyard and Engineering Ltd; Narong
Boonyasaquan, country manager Unithai Group of Companies; Isikeli Taureka,
GM of Exploration, New Ventures and Non-Operated Joint Ventures, Chevron
Asia South Strategic Business Unit; Cathy Green, wife of Stephen W. Green,
director-Asia South Strategic Business Unit, Chevron International
Exploration & Production; Diederik Christiaan de Boer, director of
Uniwise Offshore Limited; Teerapon Udomkanjananan, general manager -Shipyard
Business Division; and Kim Kyung Soo, managing director of Unithai Shipyard
and Engineering Ltd., VIP guests at the Uniwise Chonburi launch ceremony.
Uniwise Chonburi is designed to carry out different tasks
to support ocean surveys for the production of crude oil and natural gas.
The tugboat is truly multi purpose, as it can lead oil tankers into port,
repair petroleum pipes in the sea and act as a standby rescue boat.
Arthit Pratoomsuwan, MD of Unithai Shipyard and
Engineering Ltd. said that the tugboat was specially designed for sea
duties. “It is the most modern vessel in Thailand and is manned totally by
a Thai crew. The boat took 14 months to build with a budget of 220 million
baht,” he said.
MD Arthit added that there are only two MOTTs in
Thailand, “Uniwise Rayong, which was built in Singapore and is operated by
Alliance Refining Co., Ltd. (ARC), and now Uniwise Chonburi, the first
vessel of it kind built in Thailand.”
Isikeli Taureka, GM of Exploration, New Ventures and
Non-Operated Joint Ventures, Chevron Asia South Strategic Business Unit
added, “Chevron has continued to support Thai policies ... Equipment and
materials were procured locally before the proposal was submitted.
Furthermore, (building the ship locally) also generated local employment and
supported the economy.”
The launch ceremony took place on November 24 at Unithai Shipyard and
Engineering, Laem Chabang, Chonburi.
Commerce Ministry confident
exports to grow as targeted
The Commerce Ministry is confident the country’s
exports will grow as targeted in the remaining two months of this year,
boosted by increased orders for textiles.
In a report regarding the export outlook in the last two
months of 2005 to the cabinet, the ministry said exports of many kinds of
products including chicken, shrimp, electronics, electrical appliances,
textiles, precious stones and furniture declined in October.
However, it believed that exports in the fourth quarter
would continue to grow and reach the target level since there were plenty of
orders placed for product items, particularly textiles.
The ministry planned to call a meeting with exporters of
key products to assess and analyze the situation and outlook of the
country’s exports in 2005 and 2006 soon.
It reported that imports of the following six items:
crude oil, steel, gold, computer and equipment, machinery and parts, and
chemicals represented 43.9 percent of total imports in October.
In the November and December period, it projected the country would
import no more than 0.85 million barrels of crude oil per day, 0.93 and 1.07
million tons of steel and iron per month, and 11.4 and 12 tons of gold per
month. However, imports of the other items are expected to increase. (TNA)
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An
artist’s rendering of the pool area at the new Nova Atrium.
Walking to your suites you can enjoy the spectacular pool
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