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https://www.nationthailand.com/blogs/business/40011202

Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith on Monday ruled out any reduction this year in the land and buildings tax, as relief had already been granted for two years and any further cuts would be a fiscal burden for the government.

He said that a 90 per cent reduction in land and buildings taxes granted in 2020 and 2021 had cost the government about Bt30 billion a year in lost revenue, which is a high burden.

The Finance Ministry has suggested that there be no further tax cuts and the legal rate be restored this year, he said.

The land and buildings tax is collected by the local government organisation. The amount is treated as local revenue, which is reinvested in developing that locality. When the government announced a 90 per cent reduction in the land and buildings tax in June 2020, the Finance Ministry had to find money to compensate local governments for lost revenue.

Previously, the government had postponed the deadline for residents of land and buildings to pay this tax from April to August. The usual tax will now be paid in April, starting 2023.

Published : January 17, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40011196

Thailand’s trade partners still have confidence in Thai pork despite the case of African swine fever (ASF) found in Nakhon Pathom last week, a Commerce Ministry aide said on Monday.

Mallika Boonmeetrakool, an adviser to Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit, said the minister has instructed envoys in key trading-partner countries to monitor the situation.

Envoys told Jurin that key trading partners were still confident in the quality and hygiene of pork imported from Thailand, Mallika said.

For example, Hong Kong has so far refrained from banning pork imports from Thailand, he added.

Meanwhile Laos is still importing Thai frozen pork but checking live pigs from Thailand closely.

Last week, the Livestock Development Department confirmed that ASF was detected in a pork sample from a slaughterhouse in Nakhon Pathom. The Agriculture Ministry has denied allegations that it covered up an earlier ASF amid a 30 per cent drop in pig supplies and soaring pork prices.

Jurin was also told that Myanmar had imposed tight controls on Thai pork importers, who required a hygiene certificate from Myanmar livestock officials.

Mallika said Cambodia stopped importing Thai pork last year in a move to promote domestic pig farming. However, Cambodia announced a total ban on Thai pig imports last week after ASF was found in Nakhon Pathom. Taiwan also banned all Thai pork imports following the ASF finding.

Meanwhile, the International Trade Promotion and Development Department will promote hygienic pig-farming practices social media to boost confidence among foreign buyers.

On the calls to allow pork imports to address the shortage in Thailand, Mallika said the country has not imported pork for years over a health scare involving red food dye.

She said government agencies would carefully weigh the issue as imports could impact Thailand’s pig farmers.

In the first 11 months of last year (January to November), Thailand exported 1.04 million live pigs worth Bt7.186 billion. It also exported 13,615.8 tonnes of pork worth Bt1.657 billion and 4,479.2 tonnes of processed pork worth Bt1.018 billion.

Published : January 17, 2022

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40011185

The African Swine Fever (ASF) should not affect Thailand’s pork exports as it is strictly adhering to standards set by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and importers, the Department of Livestock Development said on Sunday.

Sorawit Thaneeto, the department’s director-general, said relevant agencies have been tasked with studying the impact ASF may have on imports and ensuring the losses are minimised.

The largest importers of Thai pork are Hong Kong and Japan.

Sorawit said Thailand is adhering to the following regulations:

• For countries that do not have strict controls, the department will ensure all pork products are ASF free by testing pigs before they are slaughtered and conducting random tests on finished products.

• In line with OIE regulations, all ready-to-eat pork products will be cooked at 70 degrees Celsius for at least 30 minutes or fermented with salt and dried for at least six months. Sausage casing will be fermented with salt, saline solution or phosphate salt for at least 30 days.

• For countries that have tight regulations on pork import, the department will negotiate with relevant agencies so Thailand can continue exporting. For instance, Singapore’s regulations say that pork-exporting countries must be safe from ASF for at least three months.

• The department will also study pork export based on importers’ regulations and other factors such as the Covid-19 situation.

Sorawit said he expects Thailand’s pork export this year to be similar to last year when some 23,000 tonnes of pork products worth 3.64 billion baht were shipped out.

He added that the Commerce Ministry has halted the export of live pigs for three months until April 5, and after that “the department will consider its guidelines in line with the situation”.

Published : January 17, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40011173

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index rose by 3.86 points or 0.23 per cent to 1,676.49 in the morning trade on Monday (January 17) with transactions totalling 1.7 billion baht.

Chaiyaporn Nompitakcharoen, Bualuang Securities Deputy Managing Director of Non-Institutional Broking Group forecast SET would move between 1,660 and 1,685 points in line with the rise in other Asian indices.

He said the index gained positive sentiment from investors’ speculation in bank shares in hopes of improving business turnover.

“Meanwhile, energy shares also gained positive sentiment from rising oil prices,” he added.

The SET Index closed at 1,672.63 on Friday, down 7.39 points or 0.44 per cent. Transactions were totalled 90.98 billion baht with an index high of 1,680.02 and a low of 1,670.70.

Published : January 17, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40011134

The value of Dogecoin jumped 18 per cent on Friday after Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted the electric car maker will accept the cryptocurrency for payment.

Musk had previously teased the offer on December 14, saying: “Tesla will make some merch buyable with Doge & see how it goes”.

He confirmed the move via Twitter on Friday: “Tesla merch buyable with Dogecoin”.

The value of the digital coin rose 18 per cent to US$0.20 after the reveal on Friday but had slid back to $0.19 at 1pm on Saturday.

Dogecoin was launched in 2013 as a joke to parody the cryptocurrency craze. However, its value rocketed 4,000 per cent last year after Musk promoted it as the “people’s crypto” and said his space exploration company, SpaceX, would accept it as payment.

Dogecoin is currently the only cryptocurrency accepted by Tesla.

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Last year, Musk also spurred a jump in the value of bitcoin after revealing to his huge online following that he had invested in the cryptocurrency.

Published : January 15, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40011127

Property developers expect to hike their prices by 3 to 5 per cent this year due to rising construction costs and a restoration of balance in the property market.

Apa Ataboonwongse, chief executive officer at Richy Place, said on Friday that now that some of the properties in stock since 2020 have moved, developers will need to adjust their prices to reflect the cost of construction, which has been rising since last year.

“In 2022, we expect to see property prices go up by 3-5 per cent,” she said. “Developers cannot maintain the same prices despite management cost having reduced over the past year.

“Also, due to Covid-19, most migrant workers have returned to their countries, causing labour shortage. This, in turn, has spiked the manpower cost and delayed most projects by 10 to 20 per cent from their previous schedules,” she added.

Uthai Uthaisangsuk, chief operating officer at property developer Sansiri, said that currently demand and supply in the property market are in a balanced position.

“Sansiri has less than 10 billion baht worth of unsold condominiums and some 2 billion baht worth of unsold houses, which means there is no need for developers to engage in price wars to get rid of stock,” he said. “Instead, this year we will focus on improving after-sales service and improve the quality of the product to attract more customers.”

Meanwhile, Wichai Wiratkaphan, acting director of Government Housing Bank’s Real Estate Information Centre, said the centre estimates that property prices in 2022 will surge due to an increase in the cost of construction materials, though the price of land will likely stay the same.

“This year we also expect to see developers rolling out fewer discounts and promotional campaigns as the demand in the property sector is starting to rise and is matching the supply,” he said.

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Published : January 15, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40011126

The fourth phase of the government co-shopping subsidy “Khon La Khrueng” (Let’s Go Halves) may arrive sooner than scheduled, Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said on Friday.

“The ministry is considering moving the registration date for the new round of Let’s Go Halves to mid-February, probably on the 14th as a Valentine’s gift to Thai people,” he said. “After registration, the system will take about a week to verify the information and registrants can start spending by the end of February or early March.”

The fourth phase was initially scheduled to kick off in March.

Under the scheme, the government will cover 50 per cent of the bills for food, drinks and basic necessities capped at up to 150 baht per day when payments are made via the Pao Tang application at participating shops.

A source from the Finance Ministry said that unlike the previous phases, which capped the total subsidy at 3,000 baht per person, this phase will only provide a total of 1,500 per person but will not limit the number of registrants.

Those who were approved for the third phase will have to re-apply for the fourth one, while all approved registrants are required to spend their subsidy within three months.

Arkhom added that the ministry planned to use the 10 billion baht or so leftover from the third phase of the scheme and what’s left of the loan taken to stimulate the economy to fund the fourth phase.

“The proposed budget and registration date will first be approved by the Office of the National Economic and Social Development and then by the Cabinet before the fourth phase can be officially announced,” said Arkhom.

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Published : January 15, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40011091

The UOB Group has reached an agreement to buy Citigroup’s consumer banking franchises in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, Citi announced on Friday.

“The deal includes retail banking and credit-card businesses, but excludes the bank’s institutional businesses in the four countries,” Citi said.

All 5,000 Citi staff members are expected to be shifted to UOB once the deal is completed.

UOB will pay Citi a cash consideration for the net assets it is acquiring subject to customary closing adjustments, plus a premium of 915 million Singapore dollars, Citi said, adding that UOB was selected after an extensive and competitive auction process.

Upon closing, Citi expects the transaction to result in the release of some US$1.2 billion of allocated tangible common equity, as well as an increase to tangible common equity of over $200 million.

Peter Babej, Citi Asia-Pacific CEO, said Citi is confident that UOB, with its strong culture and broad regional ambitions, will provide excellent opportunities and become a long-term home for its consumer banking colleagues in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

Tibor Pandi, country head of Citi Thailand, said the Kingdom remains a key market for Citi globally.

“We remain committed and focused on serving institutional clients locally, regionally, and globally as we have for over half a century,” he added.

Mark Mason, Citi CFO, said the sale of the four consumer markets demonstrated Citi’s sense of urgency to execute its strategic refresh.

“We are committed to working in the best interests of our shareholders by focusing our resources on businesses that can deliver growth, as well as increasing the capital we return to shareholders over time,” Mason added.

Published : January 14, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40011079

The Thai baht opened at 33.23 to the US dollar on Friday, strengthening from Thursday’s closing rate of 33.25.

The currency is likely to move between 33.20 and 33.35 to the greenback during the day and even swing sideways unless there is a new factor, Krungthai Bank market strategist Poon Panichpibool predicted.

He said the baht was supported by the dollar and the sale of gold, though the Omicron situation is pulling it down.

Foreign investors must devote large sums to the baht for it to go beyond the level of 33 to the dollar, he said. Over the past few days, foreign investors sold 6.3 billion baht of short-term bonds as they were not in a hurry to invest in the baht and were ready to sell it when it reached their target.

Poon said the baht may not strengthen much as importers may only buy the dollar when the baht is between 33.10 and 33.20 to the greenback.

He added that the currency market is volatile because investors are selling technology and growth stocks after the US Federal Reserve’s vice chair Lael Brainard sent out signals that an increase in the interest rate and tighter monetary policy to solve inflation is imminent.

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Published : January 14, 2022

By : THE NATION

#SootinClaimon.Com : ขอบคุณแหล่งข้อมูล : หนังสือพิมพ์ The Nation.

https://www.nationthailand.com/business/40011074

Krungsri Securities forecast the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index on Friday (January 14) would fall to between 1,670-1,675 points as other Asian indices have fallen due to uncertainty over the US Federal Reserves move to raise the interest rate during the meeting on March 15-16.

However, it predicted that the index would rebound from mass buy-ups of stocks to gain high returns, especially shares that gained specific positive sentiment.

It also recommended buying of the following companies’ shares as an investment strategy:

• PTTEP, TOP, PTTGC, IVL and SPRC, which benefit from rising oil price and gross refining margin.
• BBL, TTB, KBANK and BLA, which benefit from news of interest rate hike.
• RCL, LEO, III, WICE, SONIC and JWD, which benefit from rising freight rate.

The SET Index closed at 1,680.02 on Wednesday, up 1.52 points or 0.09 per cent. Transactions were totalled 82.46 billion baht with an index high of 1,682.71 and a low of 1,675.74.

Top five stocks with the highest trade value were KBANK, SCB, SAWAD, GULF and PTT.

Published : January 14, 2022

By : THE NATION