Sri Lanka has reached a crucial milestone in its long-awaited debt agreements with its bilateral lenders, including China, according to the government’s statement on Tuesday ( Jun 25 ). According to government official Bandula Gunawardana, a group from the Treasury will travel to France on Wednesday to sign agreements withContinue Reading
PUBLISHED: 25 Jun 2024 at 12: 45
A custodian senator warned that the government’s plan to allow up to 49 % of condo building products to be owned by foreigners could cause conflict of interest and stifle the prime minister’s office.
Somchai Swangkarn wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that there might be a conflict of interest as a result of the government’s plan to increase the percentage of foreign ownership of condominiums and expand the leasehold period for overseas properties from 50 to 99.
Home owners who have connections to government ministries, including Srettha Thavisin, would gain from it.
Mr Somchai said listed property developer Sansiri, a key person in the business, was owned by Mr Srettha’s home.
The custodian senator wrote that any government choice regarding foreign ownership of condominiums and property leases may be regarded as a conflict of interest, which was against the Constitution and against the Organic Act on Anti-Corruption.
Anutin Charnvirakul, the cabinet’s inside minister, reported last week that the plan had been ordered to be examined. It was not on the pantry plan for this week’s meeting. The policy’s benefits and drawbacks were being considered by the Land Department.
He claimed that the government needed to boost the economy and that the modifications that were suggested would certainly benefit entrepreneurs. The freedom of Thai individuals would become protected, along with the monetary stimulus, Mr Anutin said.
Sopon Pornchokchai, chairman of the Agency for Real Estate Affairs, said house rent times for immigrants were limited at 50 times in Cambodia, China, Myanmar and Vietnam, 30 years in Indonesia and 60 years in Singapore.
The proportion of foreigners ‘ ownership of condominiums was capped at 30 % in Vietnam, 49 % in Indonesia and 50 % in Malaysia, he said.
The coverage of the state posed the risk of international crime, money- laundering, financial manipulation and to regional security, he said.
Mr. Sopon also suggested that the government should set a minimum condominium purchase price of 10 million baht so that Thais with low and middle-class incomes can also purchase them.
In contrast, international consumers should be prohibited from selling purchased condos for three decades, to hinder speculation, he said.
Local home business professionals have been , pressing for a change , in the international rights cap, saying demand from foreign purchasers is on the rise.
Additionally, regional clients ‘ higher levels of household debt and tighter lending policies have been having an impact on the demand for homes. As a result, programmers have become more careful.
One Laotian and seven Foreign employees were also among the 22 people who died. The plant’s main lithium batteries were partially positioned at the facility by an unlisted company called Aricell. The stock is in Hwaseong, an industrial cluster south of the money Seoul. Search puppies and firefighters searched theContinue Reading
Forex traders who are betting on a yen bounce should talk to policy veterans who are more knowledgeable and not the current ones.
Officials from the Bank of Japan, Shunichi, Suzuki, Masato Kanda, and Kazuo Ueda, the yen’s government, argued that the renminbi is a victim of the Japan-US offer gap, while the yen was at its lowest point over the past year.
This is bedroom, as Hiroshi Watanabe, past vice minister of finance for foreign affairs, tells Nikkei Asia. Yet if Tokyo participates suddenly, there’s little opportunity for the yen to march from 159 then history, say, 150 to the US dollar, he says.
In the days to come, the chances are that the yen will continue to decline. The purpose: Tokyo’s 25- year- ancient poor- yen strategy is blowing up on Asia’s next- biggest economy in real time, leaving the currency on a upward path.
” The level of japanese loss in recent years is startling”, says Robin Brooks, scholar at the Brookings Institution. The Turkish lira, which has traditionally been the weakest money in the major markets, has lost more in real terms than the renminbi. However, since the end- 2019 – since only before Covid hit – only one money, the Egyptian pound, has fallen more than the yen in true terms”.
Brooks adds that,” no surprisingly, the level of this loss has sparked controversy on its drivers and how much further it can expand”. On some level, he explains, “yen weakness stems from Japan’s extremely high debt, which forces the bank to cover long- term government bond yields via available- ended bond buying”.
Finally, Brooks concludes,” Japan is a sobering stories about letting debt fall unchecked. Countries can impose limits on state bond yields with the help of their main businesses, but doing so only leads to weak currency depreciation.
Now that Watanabe is no longer employed directly by the government and is leading a Tokyo think tank, he can explain why the yen should n’t be viewed as a safe haven asset. And why does the market wager that the Ministry of Finance’s intervention wo n’t succeed?
A number of Asian governments have been using a weak yen-only strategy to encourage growth and combat inflation since the late 1990s. After Chinese officials claimed they were moving away from the old beggar-thy-neighbor policies, the ploy gained perhaps more significance.
The Liberal Democratic Party’s resumption of power in late 2012 is referenced below. With a strong plan to boost the business, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe came back into power.
Abe compared victory to the warrior analogy, which depicts how three projectiles fired at a target. Abe’s bolts, aimed at slaying depreciation, included intense monetary easing, more imaginative macroeconomic policies and a reform Big Bang.
However, structural changes to cut red tape, revive innovation and productivity, enable people and attract more major global skills were few and far between. Similar to how to create a new fiscal stance. Over the past 14 plus years, debt has remained high.
Instead, Abe prioritized lower interest rates and a weaker yen. To further the quantitative easing initiative that Tokyo had instituted in 2001, he appointed Haruhiko Kuroda as governor of the Bank of Japan in 2013. The BOJ had more stocks and bonds than it had in 2013 and 2018, so much so that its balance sheet surpassed Japan’s US$ 4.7 trillion gross domestic product.
Count the ways this strategy is backfiring. As the Fed tightened in 2022 and 2023, the yen’s weakness deepened. That made Japan vulnerable to rising oil, food, and other important imports.
According to economist Atsushi Takeda of the Itochu Research Institute,” the ideal scenario would be for wage gains to be passed on to prices and for prices to rise steadily.” Instead, “bad” inflation imported from abroad is undermining household and business confidence.
Goushi Kataoka, a former BOJ board member, notes that” cost- push pressure is heightening at a degree never seen before, prodding firms to raise prices”.
The yen’s decline is also gaining new life. It is possible that yen selling as a result of a certain threshold, as long as US-Japan rate differentials are above a certain threshold, even with some rate differential narrowing, says Barclays ‘ strategist Shinichiro Kadota.
However, the yen is falling because of investor confidence in the currency. So far this year, the yen is down more than 13 %. Its current course is raising questions about whether China will decide to accept a lower exchange rate as well. The yuan is on the verge of breaking point since 2008;
A weaker yuan is suggested as the best way to address the deflationary pressures on China. However, Japan’s experience serves as a warning about the advantages of putting aggressive monetary policy policies before policies to boost competition and disruption.
The BOJ basically inaugurated the biggest political and corporate welfare scheme in history. Since the late 1990s, it has made it more important for the 13 governments to rebalance growth engines and establish level playing fields.
Corporate executives felt less pressure to innovate, change, and take significant risks. For two- plus decades, it’s been easier to harness BOJ support than for CEOs to disrupt industry. In 2024, Ueda’s BOJ team is currently plagued by that BOJ-enabled complacency.
The yen is sagging again because it is Tokyo’s only real policy, as Watanabe and other Japanese policy veterans now acknowledge. This explains, in part, why Ueda has avoided any chance even just to start the process of normalizing rates. Ueda has jumped at every chance he has had to signal that change is on the way in his 14 plus months in charge.
The yen is still in secular-declining mode even if the MOF intervenes in the coming days. Too quickly is the BOJ able to feel at ease braking against the economy. Nor does Tokyo’s political environment encourage tighter policy.
The approval rating for the LDP’s current prime minister, Fumio Kishida, who is now 21 %, is the only factor that is falling faster than GDP. Ueda wants to blame the BOJ for causing Japan to go into recession, but that is last. The BOJ keeps its foot on the gas, but the yen drops as it goes.
According to Kelvin Wong, senior analyst at currency broker Oanda,” softer prints of Japanese economic data may cause BOJ to delay its next interest rate increase to September in addition to the near-term increase in geopolitical risk premium coming out of the Eurozone as a result of the looming first round of French legislative elections scheduled this Sunday, June, supporting potential bids on the US dollar due to safe-haven demand.”
Japan contracted 1.8 % year on year in the January- March quarter. The one bright spot is exports, which are “having a positive impact”, says Yeap Jun Rong, market analyst at , IG Asia Pte.
There’s an argument, though, that Japan’s economy is in worse shape than the official data suggest.  , Marcel Thieliant, economist at Capital Economics, points to hopes that exports alone will save the day.
He claims that the majority of the rise in trade values was caused by the yen’s sharp decline rather than by any discernible increase in volumes.
One wild card is the November 5 US election. If Beijing lets the yuan weaken, too, exchange rates could become a big controversy in Washington. No issue brings together Republicans led by President Joe Biden and Donald Trump like beggar-thy-neighbor scheming in Asia. That could add fresh fuel to trade- war politics in Washington, provoking retaliation in Beijing.
However, making up a claim that Japan is responsible for Washington’s policy is ineffective is not more credible. The preponderance of the data refutes both contentions.
Following Washington’s suggestion to establish a set of specific regulations that would hinder and track American investments in China for semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and classical computing, Beijing has expressed major problems.  ,
The Chinese Commerce Ministry stated on Monday that, despite the US’s repeated efforts to say it has no intention of dissociating from China or preventing the country’s economic growth, Washington has insisted on preventing American firms from investing in China and preventing the government’s normal growth.  ,  ,
A spokesperson for the government referred to the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in the US in November as” a typical broad approach to national security,” saying that this method goes against the two faces of state’s discussion at the conference in San Francisco.
He predicted that the restrictions may have a negative impact on Chinese and US businesses ‘ regular economic and trade cooperation, undermine the world’s economic and trade balance, and deteriorate global commercial and supply chains ‘ security and stability.
He added that China is entitled to take the same actions as the United States is against. He demanded that the US government prevent politicizing and stifling business.
Researchers at the Ministry of Commerce, Zhou Mi, predicted that Washington’s purchase regulations will make high-tech cooperation between the US and China more difficult. He claimed that it will also stifle global technical innovation and scientific advancement.  ,
Beijing made the comments after the US Treasury Department released a notice of proposed rule-making ( NPRM ) on June 21 to implement Biden’s executive order, which was first announced in August and had the title” Addressing US investments in specific national security technologies and products in countries of concern.”
According to the Treasury, the NPRM establishes a procedure for creating a new federal security software to combat threats from foreign direct investments in China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
The proposed NPRM developments our national security by preventing, according to Paul Rosen, assistant secretary of the Treasury for Investment Security, the numerous benefits that some US opportunities offer besides only capital from supporting the development of delicate systems in nations that might use them to harm our national security.
The Treasury requests comments on the proposal through August 4 and anticipates that the regulation will be in effect by the end of this year.  ,
The secretary of the Treasury must enact laws that prohibit US citizens from operating AI, chip, and quantum computing businesses in China, according to Biden’s executive order.  ,
Additionally, the regulations should mandate that US citizens notify the Treasury of specific other transactions that might involve these products and technologies that could compromise US national security.
The NPRM said a” covered transaction” may be a prohibited transaction, or only a notifiable one.  ,
Covered transactions include the provision of debt financing, the conversion of convertible debt, greenfield investments ( a type of foreign direct investment where a company establishes operations abroad ), joint ventures, and limited partner ( LP ) or equivalent investments.
The Chinese Commerce Ministry reported on June 21 that its total foreign direct investment decreased by 31 % to US$ 57.9 billion in the first five months of this year from US$ 84.3 billion during the same time period in 2023.  ,
FDI in China’s high technology manufacturing sector rose 2.7 % to US$ 6.9 billion. FDI coming from Germany and Singapore to China rose 24 % and 16 % year- on- year, respectively. However, the commerce ministry did not make the detailed FDI figures available for each country.  ,
China’s high technology development certainly needs the participation of foreign funds, but it mainly relies on domestic funds and policy environment, said Xiang Ligang, director- general of the Zhongguancun Information Consumption Alliance, a Beijing- based telecom industry association.
China must now send a clear message that it needs to develop its own AI technology, according to Xiang, who stated that the proposed US investment restrictions were a result of this. He made mention of Beijing’s recent national policy to support Chinese technology startups.
On June 15, China’s State Council published a document to encourage local governments, state- owned- enterprises, banks, private equity and asset management firms and long- term fund management companies to provide loans, subsidies and funds to technology startups.
According to the statement, financial authorities should foster a favorable lending climate for technology companies to grow and raise money. China will tweak its laws in order to promote FDI, according to the statement.  ,
In an article published on June 23, Guan Quan, a professor at the Renmin University of China, writes that the US has recently sent an official to Japan and the Netherlands and urged them to tighten their export controls for chip-making equipment.  ,
Besides, he says, Washington also plans to add 11 Chinese chip foundries to its Entity List. He says all these moves have shown clearly , that the Biden administration will not stop suppressing China’s chip sector.
He claims that until one day China can self-supply all the necessary chip-making tools, the only way to put an end to all these restrictions is to use technological advancements. However, Guan did not provide a roadmap or schedule for how China would go about accomplishing its objectives.
China can still use this opportunity to attract American investments into its high technology sectors, according to some commentators, because it may take up to six more months before the proposed US investment restrictions go into effect.  ,
Meanwhile, the immediate effect of imposing a ban on Chinese students from studying or obtaining AI technology in the US is.  ,
On June 22, China Daily, a state- owned publication, reported that four Chinese students who traveled to the US for academic conferences had recently suffered from the US border officers ‘ “unwarranted harassment, interrogation and repatriation” . ,
Border agents questioned the four science students, two of whom have research interests in AI, about their personal and family histories and whether they were affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party, according to the report.  ,  ,
It said the US has repatriated more than 30 Chinese students, mostly master’s or doctoral degree candidates in computer- related fields, in recent years.
Read: China hawk: Fix symbolic, ineffective US sanctions
Follow Jeff Pao on X:  , @jeffpao3
In what is believed to be the largest funding round closed by an earned- wage access ( EWA ) startup in Southeast Asia, Malaysian headquartered startup, Paywatch, has raised US$ 30 million ( RM141 million ) in funding from a mix of equity and credit facilities to supercharge growth.
With the help of new investors Octagon Venture Partners and Wooshin Venture Investment Corp., Paywatch received over US$ 14 million ( RM65 million ) in Series A equity funding led by Third Prime and a consortium of US investors, including Vanderbilt University and the University of Illinois Foundation. Additionally, it secured payment services worth US$ 16 million from big banks, including Citi and other big banks, at global locations.
]RM1 = US$ 0.212]
” We take great pride in the assurance these reputable investors and banks have in our vision in the midst of this money and tech winter. We were firmly convinced from the beginning that ensuring accessibility to major financial institutions and offering Received Wage Access at the lowest, minimum payment was the best course of action. Our rapid expansion and collection of high-caliber business customers validate our approach, even though it was a more difficult way to market, according to Alex Kim, president and co-founder of Paywatch, who co-founded the business in South Korea in 2020 with his nephew Richard Kim.
An ESG individual gain
Employees can access a portion of their accumulated earnings in real-time as it is earned, as well as before the conclusion of their pay cycle, thanks to Paywatch’s debt-free EWA solution, also known as on-demand pay, an impressive employee benefit.
Paywatch’s remedy has clearly decreased employees ‘ dependency on loans, alleviated home debt and enhanced fiscal management. Together, Paywatch’s smooth, fully automated program has greatly boosted businesses ‘ employee retention and efficiency, resulting in significant cost savings associated with hiring and training.
Paywatch has partnered and collaborated with a few Malaysian brands and institutions such as Lotus, Jaya Grocer, QSR Brands ( including KFC and Pizza Hut ), FFM Bhd, PayNet, Shopper360, Guardian ( part of DFI Group ), Corus Hotel ( under MUI Group ), Llao Llao ( by Woodpeckers ), Coway, Media Prima, University of Nottingham Malaysia, UNITAR and Durioo.
It claims that these partnerships show how committed it is to offering a revolutionary financial service that meets the demands of Malaysia’s labor.
Most foreign EWA in Asia, biggest level with US$ 58mil processed
The firm, which serves the largest foundation of employees in Asia, has processed more than US$ 58 million in salaries through its method to time, and its monthly disbursements have increased by as much as US$ 8 million, or 15 %, month over month.
According to Paywatch, this results in the largest EWA service in Asia by volume of transactions. By the end of the year, the company anticipates receiving more than US$ 120 million in salary, more than double its lifetime value.
Since its establishment in 2020 in South Korea, Paywatch has expanded quickly to three other markets- Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia. With the most recent funding, the company is “ready to expand into new markets and develop even more financially inclusive tools for our users,” Kim said.
Along with the company’s other innovation efforts, a significant portion of the Series A funding will be used to enhance the company’s embedded finance offerings.
Third Prime, a U.S.-based early-stage venture capital firm that invests in global leaders in financial and industrial technology, is Paywatch’s leading investor for this funding round.
In the US and Latin America, EWA has become a common employee benefit. And with such great momentum, Paywatch is emerging as the market’s leading change agent in Asia. As markets with different regulations and cultures are increasingly popular, the rapid adoption of earned wage access is a gratifying time, said Michael Kim, General Partner of Third Prime ( pic ).
Aligning with Malaysia’s financial inclusion vision
With a strong base of clients in Malaysia, Paywatch’s innovative EWA solution is set to enhance the financial well- being of Malaysian workers, one of the outcomes stated in the country’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy.
Paywatch argued that its instant access to earned wages supports the Malaysian government’s efforts to combat income disparity and foster financial stability among its citizens.
First time for US university endowments
The direct investment by the Vanderbilt University and the University of Illinois Foundation in Paywatch is regarded as a milestone in the market because it marks the first time these endowment funds from US universities have made an investment in an Asian tech startup.
We have long supported financial inclusion, and we think Paywatch’s earned wage access technology can help the movement advance significantly. Beyond the technology, we also believe in the company’s dedication and commitment to delivering true impact in Southeast Asia”, shares Travis Shore, Chief Investment Officer of the University of Illinois Foundation.
Mr Louis Chua, a Member of Parliament ( MP ) for Sengkang GRC, suggested that “ethical lending practices” should be encouraged, apart from raising awareness of the dangers of illicit borrowing. Stringent regulations on all types of financing, perhaps from licensed moneylenders and banks, to avoid “exorbitant attention rates” andContinue Reading
According to former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the country’s economy has slowed down and cannot be saved by just injecting wealth through initiatives like the government’s 500 billion-baht modern money handout plan, which will likely help boost the economy in just one or two quarters.
Mr. Abhisit also cited the urgency of amending laws in a particular meeting with the Bangkok Post as a solution for the country’s economic stagnation.
According to Mr. Abhisit, who rated Mr. Srettha’s effort to entice more foreign firms into Thailand as unsuccessful as it should have been, these legal difficulties are a significant obstacle to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s efforts to do so.
Mr. Abhisit made reference to Mr. Srettha’s sessions with important businesspeople while traveling abroad.
Purchase problems
Global investors are primarily concerned about Thailand’s lack of laws, rules, and technology, especially now that the government has n’t but demonstrated clearly what fresh business direction Thailand is actually moving in, according to Mr. Abhisit.
Worse still, in wooing purchases from abroad, the Srettha leadership is focusing more on business sectors with little progress, said Mr Abhisit.
This state is attempting to address this key fundamental issue by introducing the online budget handout scheme and raising the minimum everyday wage to 400 baht, according to Mr. Abhisit, along with higher purchasing power only among a select few small groups of Thai consumers and a higher rate of household debt.
He cited Microsoft executives ‘ absence of the precise purchase figures the tech company had in mind when they made the announcement of their investment strategy in Thailand recently as one obvious example.
He claimed that while they have released their purchase plans for Thailand and Indonesia, they have left out their own investment plans.
He claimed that if Microsoft had actually intended to set up a data center in Thailand, it would have made clear what portion of the company’s guaranteed investment’s clean electricity use would need to be met.
According to Mr. Abhisit,” And we still do n’t have the answers to the questions that prospective international investors have raised regarding clean energy policies that will ensure the continuity of business development.”
Every business needs help
According to Mr. Abhisit, Thailand’s economic growth is typically attributed to the rise of large public companies, but in reality only those with concessions from the authorities are expanding, according to Mr. Abhisit.
This plainly shows Thailand’s financial growth happens in just specific firms, not across all business areas as it should be, he said.
He said,” The answer is that we need to start rewriting laws and regulations that have been debated for a while.”
Also Thai businesses find Thai rules difficult due to their complex laws. These regulations are outdated and inconsistent with current businesses, innovative technology and the economic system”, Mr Abhisit said.
According to Mr. Abhisit, yet the government’s plan to raise the minimum daily wage to 400 baht still needs constitutional amendments, adding that any additional delays in passing the laws may probably lead to an even worsening of the economy going into the new year.
” Up until now, we still have n’t seen the government making any real move in implementing those policies it had promised voters]during the election campaign] while pressure is mounting for it to honour its promises”, he said.
According to Mr. Abhisit, the ruling Pheu Thai Party and its precursor, the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai Party, were well known for their propensity to choose a quick repair, such as a signal program to finance an economic system, rather than addressing a root cause.
He predicted that the business will fail once more in one or two quarters once the effects of the short-term monetary stimulus are gone.
According to Mr. Abhisit, the alliance government’s efforts to boost the economy even lack unity.
New financial plans
The ruling party has generally maintained that the nation is experiencing economic slowdown and that the digital wallet freebies are intended to bring the country back from its slumber, according to deputy finance minister Paopoom Rojanasakul’s earlier statement to the Bangkok Post.
Mr. Paopoom attributed the slow economy to three factors: the inaction of the 2024 fiscal budget, ineffective fiscal and monetary measures to stimulate the economy, declining consumer confidence in spending, and a contraction in loans, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises ( SMEs ).
” In brief, the fiscal business lacks weapons, and while the financial market has it, it refuses to use it. Banks are optimistic about extending money as a result of this. With all these factors, the government’s business is sluggish”, he said.
Mr. Srettha stated on Friday that the government would introduce extra steps to boost the economy.
He claimed he had a Thursday evening meeting with Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira about a variety of issues, including property market and economic stimuli.
” A major announcement on quick- term, medium- term and lengthy- term measures may be made on June 24 or 25″, the excellent minister said.
Asked if this would be good news, Mr Srettha said:” Let’s wait and see”.
He also said Mr Pichai will discuss the inflation target with Bank of Thailand ( BoT ) governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput.
Prior to this, Mr. Srettha stated that numerous foreigners were interested in funding projects in Thailand, including the” Land Bridge.”
This one trillion-baht project aims to build a logistics network connecting Chumphon province in the Gulf of Thailand to Ranong province along the Andaman Sea.
Additionally, it has two deep-water ports, a railroad system, and a land-to-air highway connecting the two provinces, with the intention of loading containers onto waiting container ships.
After the release of the federal budget, financial experts predict that the situation will bottom out in the next half of the month. However, the market is currently at one of its worst points.
According to Nonarit Bisonyabut, an economist at the Thailand Development Research Institute ( TDRI), things typically seem to be at their worst just before things start to improve.
Mr. Nonarit attributed a short-term decline in the country’s economy to a number of factors, most notably the slow funding of the federal budget and great domestic and international interest rates, which discourage investment.
Politics a probable move
He claimed, however, that as interest rates drop globally, the position will increase. Interest rates were just lowered by the European Central Bank, and the US is projected to experience another reduction this season.
” I’m calling it the’ 4am business’ because we’ll view a ray of light immediately. We’ve seen lower interest rates, he said, with Thailand likely to follow suit and the US expected to make four cuts next month.
Mr. Nonarit stated that as soon as the details of government jobs are made clear, state spending may start in May and may continue to increase. The trade industry, however, is showing signs of improvement, and so is the global market.
” That means we’ll be entering the sun, and the sector is expected to start growing again”, he said.
But, a nation’s economic growth depends heavily on its ability to meet the needs of the world’s economy and address challenges brought on by an aging society.
Also, the state of politics is also retard the economic treatment, particularly if Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin is removed from office, causing social problems.
In the most recent cabinet reshuffle, Pichit Chuenban was criticized for his controversial appointment as the PM’s Office secretary. 40 lawmakers, who had accused the prime minister and Pichit of breaking government minister morals, started the investigation.
They asked the court if the pair should be removed from office under Section 160 ( 4 ) and ( 5 ) of the constitution, which deals with the ethics of cabinet ministers.
They claimed that Pichit, who had represented Thaksin Shinawatra in a corruption case in 2008 and spent time in jail for contempt of court, was inadequate to hold a cupboard position.
The social climate also affects the business. If the land has to find a new prime minister, state laws will be further delayed”, Mr Nonarit said.
Nonarit: Politics may trick recovery
Digital pocket the main concern
The TDRI researcher asked whether the Pheu Thai-led administration’s policies over the past nine months have had an impact on the economy, noting that the government is focusing more on the digital budget plan than other small-scale monetary measures.
” The state has to save money for the cash handout program, so there are no smaller initiatives to wax the rims”, he said.
There remains a major question mark over foreign assets, he said. Although some major companies claim they intend to travel to Thailand, it is too early to say whether the prime minister’s outside journeys will have any impact.
” There are basic factors that may pull investments, such as human resources and skill set. He claimed that this is the major challenge, and that long-term planning is required to handle this.
According to Mr. Nonarit, the government should take short-term steps and begin addressing economic reforms, particularly building the workforce to support the business, once political uncertainty has vanished and social security has been established.
Weak imports, lower paying
Tanit Sorat, vice- chairman of the Employers ‘ Confederation of Thai Trade and Industry ( EconThai ), said the export sector, which is traditionally Thailand’s driving force, remains weak, so supply chains have been affected.
Due to the low purchasing power of local and international markets, the industrial firm’s production accounts for 60 % of its full potential.
As a result, the services, logistics, employment and transport industries are all suffering from this downturn of financial activity.
The circumstance for companies has become worse as a result of global factors, including the US-China trade war and the Middle East’s tensions, particularly those involving shipping vessels in the Red Sea.
A high level of household debt has caused a negative situation for companies and raised cash concerns for businesses as a result of poor customer spending.
” Only the tourism industry seems to be surviving, but the sector makes up for 8 % of the country’s GDP”, he said.
On international investments, he said businesses make lengthy- term expense plans, which are not likely to be halted only by social issues.
Last year saw investment principles of more than 600 billion rmb, of which 70 % was the result of foreign direct investment.
Government” sitting on its arms”
In the past nine times, Mr. Tanit claimed that the government has hardly done something. The government chose to wait for the electronic wallet system rather than start a signal program to increase profitability and start a bill suspension.
The prime minister should have started working right away because he is a businessman. He is aware that businesses require small incentives and debt payment suspensions to keep up with rising household debt. He thinks like a politician, not a businessman”, he said.
He noted that the car manufacturers ‘ supply chain has experienced a 23 % contraction, and that other struggling industries include sugar, cassava, and rubber.
Half of export clusters have also contracted, and without government intervention, the supply chain will be dragged down, he noted.
The government should develop a plan to increase public spending and increase production while the rollout of the digital wallet is in progress. Operating at 50–60 % of their total capacity, businesses will not be able to retain workers, he said.
” Can the government also suspend debt for a year?” This is a short- term measure. And for the digital wallet, the government should ensure it can be spent anywhere, not just in convenience stores”, he said.
Tanit: Export sector remains weak
The ruling party, according to deputy finance minister Paopoom Rojanasakul, has always said that the nation is experiencing economic stagnation and that the digital wallet handouts are intended to lift it from its slumber.
Mr. Paopoom attributed the slow economy to three factors: the inaction of the 2024 fiscal budget, ineffective fiscal and monetary measures to stimulate the economy, declining consumer confidence in spending, and contraction in loans, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises ( SMEs ).
” In short, the fiscal sector lacks ammunition, and while the monetary sector has it, it refuses to use it. Banks are cautious about extending loans as a result of this. With all these elements, the country’s economy is sluggish”, he said.
State funds begin to flow.
Mr. Paopoom claimed that funds have been injected into the system since the 2024 fiscal budget bill was finally approved after a protracted delay.
Additionally, measures are now in place to accelerate investments in state enterprises which meet 95 % of the government’s target.
More money will be injected into the system as a result of the rollout of the digital wallet scheme, which is scheduled to take effect in October of this year.
The deputy finance minister claimed that due to the slow production and lack of consumption, Thailand has lost its appeal.
He acknowledged that business decision-making depends also on political stability. He expressed confidence in the government’s efforts to solve the country’s economic problems and the introduction of a number of fiscal measures, including soft loans, as well as upcoming loan guarantee measures.
Central bank must play a role
He argued that the Bank of Thailand must cooperate with the government in order to carry out its measures, and he also emphasized the necessity of interest rate reductions.
We have remained unwavering about the necessity of lowering interest rates because they do not conform to the economic conditions. Interest rates appear higher than they should be with the current inflation rate of 0.6 % to 0.7 %, which is below the lower 1 % threshold.
Mr. Paopoom added that much-needed reforms like the Virtual Bank project, credit guarantee upgrades, and the retirement lottery policy are in the works and that the economy is on track to recover, particularly in the second half of this year.
Paopoom: Banks cautious about extending loans
PUBLISHED: 23 Jun 2024 at 04: 00
The 3.75- trillion- bass budget bill for the 2025 fiscal time sailed through its first studying in the House of Representatives on Friday night with 311 votes of support, 175 against and two abstentions.
A 72-member special House committee with people from the government and opposition parties was established to review the legislation. 18 of the members of the committee are cabinet members and 54 are criticism and government representatives. It will keep its second meeting tomorrow, and it has 30 days to finish its function.
Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Phumtham Wechayachai thanked the Members for their suggestions during the three-day discussion and urged the particular House committee to take their suggestions into account as it moves forward with its tasks.
He claimed that the government would make sure that the limited budget was effectively used and in the public’s best interest, noting that the government’s 2025 fiscal year’s spending plan was intended to promote financial growth.
Pita Limjaroenrat, the head of the Move Forward Party ( MFP), presented the government with a five-point proposal that included a detailed plan for revenue collection, debt management, tax reform, and a transparent budget-making process.
He suggested that the people should be encouraged to observe the work to ensure accountability and transparency and that the chair of the unique House committee overseeing the budget bill is usually a authorities representative.
On May 28, the government approved a budget fair 3.75 trillion ringgit for the 2025 fiscal year, which will launch on Oct 1 and ending on Sept 30 next month.
The spending may be financed by 2.88 trillion baht of tax revenue and a payment to make up for the estimated 865 billion baht of budget deficit for the fiscal year 2025.
Some 152.7 billion ringgit of the funds is earmarked to finance the president’s 500- billion- bass digital wallet handout.
According to the government, although the deficit is higher this year, 908 billion baht is set aside for investment, representing a 27.9 % increase from the 2024 fiscal year.