BANGKOK (NNT) – Owing to improving economic signals, Standard Chartered Thailand now expects the Thai economy to expand by 3% in 2022.

Standard Chartered Bank economist Tim Leelahaphan said the economy was recovering and would expand by 3% in 2022. Said recovery will be gradual, and attention needs to be given to the situation after the reopening of the country. If the spread of COVID-19 can be controlled well, 5-6 million tourists are expected to travel to Thailand. Monitoring is also needed for the export sector and for consumption.

Dr. Tim viewed that fiscal policy will remain the main driver of Thailand’s economy next year, as there remains a need to stimulate the tourism sector and consumption that have slumped because of COVID-19. A challenge will be the implementation of monetary policy, with the Thai business sector still dependent on a low-interest policy. This was in contrast with other countries’ central banks starting to increase their policy interest rates. Owing to this situation, the money market is expected to be volatile.

The Standard Chartered economist expects the Thai Baht’s value to stay within the range of 31-32 baht per USD in the first half of 2022, and to end 2022 at 32 baht 50 satang per dollar.

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BANGKOK (NNT) – The Ministry of Commerce is investigating the illegal export of used medical gloves to the United States, as reported by a foreign media outlet. The ministry is working with health authorities to prosecute those involved.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce Jurin Laksanawisit said his ministry is now looking into the report of 80 million pieces of used medical gloves exported to the United States. This report was released by CNN.

The minister said related agencies are now making a thorough investigation into this claim, with initial information suggesting that the act was done by a group of swindlers seeking to reap profits from the pandemic-driven demand increase.

Mr. Jurin stressed that medical equipment such as rubber gloves must not be reused and that the ministry is now working together with agencies under the Ministry of Public Health, including the Food and Drugs Administration, to further pursue this investigation.

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BANGKOK (NNT) – Criminal groups have taken advantage of the government’s recent announcement of an additional batch of stipend under the Co-pay half-price scheme to convince people to divulge their personal information. The government is asserting that it is not collecting information at the moment and urges people not to provide their information to these groups.

Prime Minister’s Office spokesperson Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said inquiries have been made with the Digital Economy and Society Ministry’s anti-fake news center as well as with Krung Thai Bank, and it was found that the information collecting act was perpetrated by ill-intentioned actors who have sent out SMSs under the name of the Co-pay program. The SMSs trick people into registering for “phase 4” of Co-pay, and collect information such as I.D. card numbers and passwords in the process, after which the information is used to fraudulently transfer money out of people’s bank accounts.

Thanakorn said there is currently no policy to request people’s personal, financial or debit card information via SMS. He asked that people do not hand over sensitive information to other individuals or make them available online.

Recently, the Cabinet approved an extra 1,500 baht of handouts for participants of the Co-pay program. The amount will be disbursed in November, and users will have until December 31 to spend it. About 190,000 slots remain available in the current or third phase of the Co-pay program.

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BANGKOK (NNT) – As more and more attention is falling on digital currencies, the Bank of Thailand now intends to do a limited real-world test of its digital currency or CBDC in the second quarter of 2022.

Bank of Thailand Deputy Governor Vachira Arromdee said the BOT has undertaken studies on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) since 2018 as it realized the potential benefits to be had for the future development of Thailand’s digital currency. She said the central bank plans to do a limited, real-world test of its CBDC in order to study its use in transactions and payments for goods and services. The limited test is scheduled for the second quarter of 2022, during which businesses and developers will also be involved in the test. The participation model and the criteria for participant entities are being determined.

Dong He, Deputy Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department, International Monetary Fund, viewed that the central banks of each nation needed to play roles in designing and regulating the use of CBDC. The objective was to maintain the stability of the financial system as well as the robustness of currency value, in contrast to privately issued cryptocurrencies whose values were volatile.

Siam Commercial Bank President Arak Sutivong expressed his belief that the collaborative creation of a digital money system by the public and private sectors will produce a system that can handle much more than payments. He gave examples of lending and international money wiring, saying transformation toward digital finance is a global focal point at present.

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