BANGKOK (NNT) – The Bank of Thailand (BOT) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) have launched on Thursday a linkage of Thailand’s PromptPay and Singapore’s PayNow, marking the world’s first bridge between national real-time retail payment systems.

The linkage allows customers of participating banks in Thailand and Singapore to transfer funds of up to THB25,000 or S$1,000 daily across the two countries, using just a mobile number. The funds will flow seamlessly and securely between customers’ accounts in both countries.

Transfers will be completed within a few minutes, representing a marked improvement over the average of 1-2 working days needed by most cross-border remittance solutions. The participating banks have committed to benchmark their fees against the market. The fees will be affordably priced and transparently displayed to senders before confirming their transfers.
Senders will also be able to view the applicable foreign exchange charges before sending their funds, with these rates benchmarked closely to prevailing market rates.

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BANGKOK (NNT) – The Finance Ministry has reduced its 2021 economic growth forecast for a second time to 2.3% from 2.8% growth, after a third wave of coronavirus infections struck Thailand this month.

Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) Director-General Kulaya Tantitemit said the ministry slashed its forecast for the number of foreign tourists to only 2 million this year from 5 million it had predicted three months ago.
She said the expected fewer tourists will have quite an impact as that will cut tourism money to just over 100 billion baht from 260 billion baht previously projected. The latest outbreak has seen half of its overall cases reported this month alone and came as the country was preparing to reopen more broadly to foreign tourists, as vaccinations increase globally.
The Director-General said inoculations at home and abroad could provide some support. The distribution of vaccines is very important as it will be positive for economic activity. The Finance Ministry also expects the economy to expand more late in the third quarter or early in the fourth quarter.

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Thailand’s manufacturing production index (MPI) in March rose for the first time in 23 month, due to improved global demand and a low base effect, and is likely to increase again in April.

Office of Industrial Economics Director-General Thongchai Chawalitpichaet said the MPI’s rise of 4.12% from a year earlier was also its fastest pace in 29 months, although slightly below a forecast for a 4.4% increase in a Reuters poll.

He said while a third wave of Covid-19 infections has slowed economic activity, the manufacturing sector has not been affected. Production is going as usual and the global economy is also improving with exports sharply rising.

Mr Thongchai said the MPI in April should show further growth from a low base last year, adding that the Ministry of Industry still expects the MPI to rise by 2% to 3% this year after slumping 9.3% last year.

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BANGKOK (NNT) – The Finance Ministry has reported on Monday that the Japan Credit Rating (JCR) Agency has maintained Thailand’s credit-rating ceiling at “A-” with a “stable” outlook.

Public Debt Management Office (PDMO) Director-General Patricia Mongkhonvanit said the rating remained stable despite the serious impact of Covid-19 on the Thai economy, especially exports and tourism.

She said the rating for Thailand stayed level because the government had launched a THB1.9-trillion rescue package, boosting economic recovery since the second quarter of 2020. JCR also projects Thai GDP will recover from a 6-per-cent drop last year to grow 3 per cent this year.

JCR said it remained confident that the Thai government would be able to maintain fiscal stability and manage public debt at an appropriate level. As Thailand’s banking sector also remained stable while trade is strong with a current account surplus and high international reserves, the country still has capacity to take further measures to cope with any unexpected future situations.

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BANGKOK (NNT) – Although the COVID-19 outbreak has continuously aggravated countries everywhere, US economic stimulus measures and the rapid distribution of vaccine worldwide, have improved the economic outlook of major trading partners. Thailand’s exports in March totaled more than 750 billion baht, up 8.47 percent year-on-year. The figures were a record high for Thailand.

Mr Jurin Laksanawisit, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Commerce, said if oil, gold and military supplies were excluded, Thai exports in March would have grown as much as 12 percent thanks to the global economic recovery, cooperation between the public and private sectors of Thailand on driving exports, which lead to timely solutions to problems including a shortage of containers, export problems along the border, misunderstandings of partner countries and adjustment of the trade negotiation pattern.

The Ministry of Commerce has introduced a number of marketing innovations in the New Normal era. They include opening trade negotiations with foreign partners in a pattern of “Hybrid Virtual Trade Exhibition” or at a business matching event so that exports this year can reach a target growth of four percent. Exports are considered the main engine driving the economy as the tourism sector continues to be affected by a new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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