The Finance Ministry is assessing the impact of Omicron on the overall economy and cannot say right now how much it will affect business because the ministry has to wait for an assessment from the Public Health Ministry, Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said on Thursday.
“You have heard that the Bank of Thailand has announced a reduction in its 2022 GDP target from 3.9 per cent to 3.4 per cent because they feel the impact of Omicron could be at a severe level [if it is widespread].
“For us, the Finance Ministry, we must also assess how severe the impact would be. Will it be worse than the Delta outbreak?” Arkhom said.
As for progress in approving measures to promote the use of electric vehicles, a Cabinet meeting next week is not scheduled to consider the matter. Regarding the money that would be used to support the cost of purchasing EVs, the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council will consider the sum that should be prepared,” he added.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index closed at 1,641.47 on Thursday, up 14.68 points or 0.90 per cent. Transactions totalled 67.59 billion baht with an index high of 1,645.71 and a low of 1,632.90.
The index gained for the third consecutive day after rising by 0.28 per cent on Wednesday and 0.40 per cent on Tuesday.
The 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were ADVANC, WFX, SCB, EA, TRUE, PTT, GULF, KBANK, GPSC and SCGP.
Other Asian indices were on the rise:
Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 28,798.37, up 236.16 points or 0.83 per cent.
China’s Shanghai SE Composite closed at 3,643.34, up 20.72 points or 0.57 per cent, while the Shenzhen SE Component closed at 14,863.93, up 72.60 points or 0.49 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at 23,193.64, up 91.31 points or 0.40 per cent.
South Korea’s KOSPI Index closed at 2,998.17, up 13.69 points or 0.46 per cent.
Taiwan’s TAIEX Index closed at 17,946.66, up 119.83 points or 0.67 per cent.
The price of gold rose by THB100 in morning trade on Thursday.
A9.27am report from the Gold Traders Association showed the buying price of gold bar at THB28,600 per baht weight and selling price at THB28,700, while the buying and selling price of gold ornaments is THB28,091.48 and THB29,200, respectively.
At close on Wednesday, the buying price of gold bar was THB28,500 per baht weight and selling price THB28,600, while gold ornaments were THB27,985.36 and THB29,100, respectively.
The spot gold price on Thursday morning was hovering around US$1,806 (THB60,736) per ounce after Comex gold at close on Wednesday surged by $13.5, reached the $1,800 level to $1,802.2 per ounce due to support from the depreciation of the US dollar, including buying gold as a safe-haven asset amid concerns over the Omicron Covid-19 outbreaks.
The price of gold in Hong Kong, meanwhile, rose sharply by HK$170 to $16,790 (THB72,344) per tael, the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society reported.
The baht opened at 33.68 to the US dollar on Thursday, strengthening from Wednesday’s closing rate of 33.765.
The Thai currency is likely to move between 33.60 and 33.75 to the greenback during the day, Krungthai Bank market strategist Poon Panichpibool predicted.
Poon said that the baht is likely to fluctuate and swing sideways in the short term.
He said the baht might strengthen more if foreign investors do not sell a large number of short term bonds as the dollar is weakening and the gold price is increasing.
The baht key resistance level is at 33.80 to the dollar, which is the level that exporters are waiting to close the risk. Meanwhile, the baht support level is at 33.50 to the dollar.
Poon added that the number of transactions at the end of the year is reducing so the currency market is likely to fluctuate.
Krungsri Securities forecast the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index on Thursday (December 23) would fluctuate between 1,620-1,635 points despite the recent study showing that Omicron Covid-19 variants severity was lower than Delta.
It added that the index also gained positive sentiment from rising oil prices after the US oil storage has declined.
“However, investors should beware of foreign investors’ move to adjust their portfolio before Christmas and New Year holidays as it would cause volatility to the index,” Krungsri Securities said.
It also recommended buying of the following companies’ shares as an investment strategy: ▪︎ HMPRO, GLOBAL, DOHOME, CPN, CRC, SYNEX, COM7, SPVI, CPW and JMART, which benefit from the government’s fresh economic stimulus measures. ▪︎ RCL, LEO, III, WICE, SONIC and JWD, which benefit from rising freight rate. ▪︎ EA, GPSC, AMATA, WHA, AH and SAT, which benefit from the government’s support on electric vehicles.
On Dec. 9, crowds gathered for the annual Game Awards, a glitzy, Oscars-like, red-carpet event in Los Angeles, complete with orchestral performances and games industry executives donning suits and heels.
As the luminaries of the gaming world filed inside, several workers stood outside the entrances, holding up signs calling for Activision Blizzard to rehire 12 contractors it had laid off the prior week. That same day, an independent games studio was gearing up to announce it would become the first unionized gaming company in North America.
That contrast – between the flash of an awards ceremony and the toil of those working in the industry – is emblematic of the position the games industry finds itself in now: While video game companies rake in billions of dollars, their workers complain of unfair labor practices, long hours, sexual harassment and workplace misconduct. Video game companies in North America have never successfully unionized. That changed Dec. 16, when a union at the indie developer Vodeo Games was recognized by management.
“There’s been a lot of groundwork that’s been happening in the game industry over the last few years in terms of raising awareness about unions,” Vodeo designer Carolyn Jong said. “I don’t think there’s such a thing as a perfect workplace. There’s always going to be issues and there’s always a power imbalance between management and workers. . . . A big part of improving the bar, which is currently somewhere near the floor for the gaming industry as a whole, [is] unionization and workers organizing collectively.”
Vodeo’s unionization comes as one of the world’s biggest gaming companies, Activision Blizzard, faces multiple lawsuits and government investigations over its workplace culture and allegations of sexual misconduct and discrimination. In response, Activision Blizzard employees have called for the CEO to resign, launched strikes and are circulating union authorization cards in an effort to organize. Activision Blizzard did not respond to a request for comment.
“Vodeo has broken the ice on smaller studios. There are definitely folks at smaller studios that are realizing that unions are not just for triple A studios. They are for any size of studio,” Brian, a worker organizer in the Southern California games industry who declined to provide his last name for fear of retaliation, said on a Zoom call with The Post a week after the Game Awards. He and four other game workers stood outside the Game Awards in a hastily assembled protest meant to draw attention to Activision Blizzard workers’ ongoing strike.
Vodeo has about 13 employee across the United States and Canada managed solely by independent game developer Asher Vollmer, who founded the studio earlier this year. So far they’ve released just one game, “Beast Breaker,” which employees at the studio say is about solidarity and organizing to tackle big issues. The new union, Vodeo Workers United, is working with the Communications Workers of America (CWA), a major media labor union that is also helping Activision Blizzard workers and their attempts to reach collective bargaining.
“The unionization at Vodeo Games shows the wide range of workers who are considering the benefit of having a collective voice in negotiations about employment conditions, such as wages, health insurance, paid leave and workplace safety,” said Risa L. Lieberwitz, labor and employment law professor at Cornell University.
In the past, game workers would avoid speaking out publicly against their employer, as it could tarnish their reputation within the industry and make it difficult to find future jobs. But after decades of major gaming companies expecting employees to work 80- or 90-hour workweeks, and of workers fearing retaliation from management, Vodeo employees told The Post that the tide was changing.
“For Americans, at least generally, a lot of people aren’t familiar with unions,” Vodeo game director Chris Floyd said. “Myself, a couple years ago, I didn’t know much about how this works. I think that’s probably still true for a lot of folks in video games and outside video games. And so we’re starting to get educated.”
What’s happening in the games industry at Activision Blizzard and Vodeo is unprecedented. No single gaming company like Activision Blizzard has dominated the headlines with lawsuit after lawsuit for months before, topped off with an explosive Wall Street Journal report in November that claimed CEO Bobby Kotick did not inform the company’s board of directors for years about sexual misconduct allegations. A petition calling for Kotick’s resignation that was circulated among employees netted over 1,850 signatures.
Game industry workers have fought back before to some extent. In 2006, Electronic Arts settled a class action lawsuit by paying workers $14.9 million for overtime wages they were owed. And in Europe, where labor laws are generally stronger and unions are more prevalent, the Solidaires Informatique trade union for French workers in 2019 legally challenged Activision Blizzard’s plan to lay off 134 workers in its Versailles studio, delaying the layoffs for a year.
The CWA has worked with Activision Blizzard employees to organize a strike fund and get union cards signed so the company’s employees can vote on creating a union. So far, Activision Blizzard workers have raised over $340,000 in funds for those who cannot afford to stop work and lose wages. Workers are still collecting signatures.
At least several dozen Activision Blizzard workers across the company are in the midst of their third work stoppage following a California state agency lawsuit that alleged widespread sexual harassment and misconduct at the company. The strike is on its third week as workers demand that management rehire 12 contractors from Call of Duty developer Raven Software and promote all Raven quality assurance testers to full-time status. Some in-person demonstrations have taken place at the quality assurance office in Austin, Texas.
Activision Blizzard management responded to employees in a Dec. 10 email that ongoing work toward improving company culture would be best achieved without a union. Chief Administrative Officer Brian Bulatao sent the companywide email, saying: “We ask only that you take time to consider the consequences of your signature on the binding legal document presented to you by the CWA.”
The company has not responded to workers’ specific walkout demands as its studios head into the holidays.
“[Activision Blizzard King] management could follow Vodeo Games founder and game co-director Asher Vollmer’s lead,” CWA organizing director Tom Smith said, referring to the positive reception on social media to the news that Vollmer had recognized the Vodeo union. “It’s a choice: Do you want the sitting secretary of labor tweeting praise while copy pasting the company’s PR statement, or do you want to read news of another government agency complaint, investigation [or] lawsuit?”
Activision Blizzard and Vodeo workers told The Post that they were drawing inspiration from each group’s efforts to advocate for a better workplace.
“One of the reasons that we were inspired to work with CWA is we know that they’ve been working with other folks in the game industry and in tech, so having access to that broader network is actually really great. And hopefully it can be a two-way process,” said Vodeo’s Jong. “Us learning from them, and them learning from us.”
Activision Blizzard’s tumultuous battle with lawsuits, government investigations and worker protests has Wall Street analysts downgrading their rating of its stock. Unionization would further lower the company’s market value, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter.
“If they were to succeed [in unionizing], the company would have to determine whether to recognize the union or to bust it,” Pachter said. “If only the hourly workers chose unionization, Activision could decide whether it is cheaper to recognize them or to export their jobs to a nonunion locale.”
That possibility looms large for workers in the industry.
“I do fear for my job,” said Aubrey Ryan, a contractor working for Blizzard. “Even if I’m fired, I have been part of a movement that is going to change the games industry. I might not benefit, but future people like me will.”
WASHINGTON – White House officials are carefully watching the economic impact of the latest coronavirus surge, as concerns mount both at home and abroad that surging caseloads could again lead to restrictions that hurt growth and jobs.
At this point, Biden administration officials have not requested additional federal funding as the omicron variant rapidly spreads. And they are optimistic that the March 2021 stimulus package provides policymakers with the financial flexibility to mitigate the economic damage that might be caused by the new variant.
At a White House event on Wednesday, Biden sought to emphasize how far the economy had come, stressing its resilience and growth.
“Today, America is the only leading economy in the world where household incomes and the economy as a whole are stronger than they were before the pandemic, even accounting for price increases,” the president said.
Still, many economists are watching the latest surge, particularly on the East Coast, with some alarm.
A few weeks ago, Mark Zandi, an economist frequently cited by the White House, was projecting that the economy would grow at a breakneck pace of 5% in the first quarter of 2022. As the omicron variant spread, however, Zandi revised his growth estimate down to 2%. Now he thinks odds are uncomfortably high that the economy may in fact contract at the start of next year.
“It feels like things have started to turn,” Zandi said, pointing to recent weakening in credit card spending, travel and restaurant bookings. “Omicron is having an impact.”
Zandi’s unease reflects the broader uncertainty that economists inside and outside the White House are grappling with as the administration tries to understand the hit that surging covid cases could deliver to the U.S. economy.
For most of the summer and fall, the White House has been consumed by one central economic threat – inflation – as rising prices proved an enormous political challenge with the U.S. economy snapping back from the early days of the pandemic. But omicron threatens to revive fears about economic risks, with signs emerging that consumer demand may start to fall as high case counts and the highly transmissible variant threaten to wreak havoc in key sectors of the economy.
Already, analysts are warning of potential hits to restaurants and bars, the travel industry, hotels and entertainment venues. The NHL, for instance, announced it would become the first major sports league to suspend play this month. And the precedent set abroad appears disquieting, as the United Kingdom entertains new restrictions on economic activity amid an enormous increases in cases there. The Netherlands, Germany and other European countries have also announced major new restrictions. The U.S. restaurant industry is pushing the administration for additional relief.
“The problem is soon going to be growth, not inflation, given omicron. It looks like it’s going to do real damage,” Zandi said.
White House officials emphasize that the relatively strong economic growth and low unemployment heading into this winter should buffer the American economy from the head winds of omicron. More than 200 million Americans have been vaccinated and the unemployment rate has fallen to 4.2%, much earlier than expected. And many health officials think the variant could run its course by February, at which point the economy may recover quickly.
Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo has pointed to the state and local funding provisions in the American Rescue Plan, which experts say dramatically improved the financial outlook for local governments across the country.
The administration has faced substantial criticisms for that program, enacted in March, with even some Democratic economists arguing it was excessive. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that the administration does not believe it needs to ask Congress for additional emergency funding to respond to omicron. But given the likely difficulty in getting a narrowly divided Congress to approve more relief money, administration officials believe the existing state and local funding could prove to be a safeguard for a potential downturn caused by omicron.
The $1.9 trillion rescue plan included hundreds of billions of dollars in money for schools, child-care centers and other programs that are not set to be spent until beyond this year, providing a potential buffer.
“If you look at state coffers at the moment, state and local governments have money in them that will allow them to address this variant,” Adeyemo told The Washington Post this week.
Other economists stress that the economy has held up relatively well in the face of prior variants of the virus, such as delta. Jason Furman, who served as a senior economist in the Obama administration, pointed out that more than 2,000 people died of the virus per day on average in January, February and March 2021. Through that period, the economy still grew at an annualized rate of 6.3%.
The stakes for the president are high. CNN reported Tuesday that Biden’s rating on the economy among the public is the worst of any president at this point in his tenure since at least 1977. The president’s economic agenda has also stalled amid a dispute with Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. The expansion of the child tax credit approved by Democrats earlier this year – which has delivered monthly payments to tens of millions of American families – is set to expire without further action, which could deprive families of a key buffer against a financial downturn.
And even if omicron fades away, the prospect remains of further variants that continue to disrupt the U.S. economy as much of the world remains unvaccinated.
“People are talking about the height of omicron and saying it should taper off at some point. But what’s next if people aren’t vaccinated? We’ll continue to get variants,” said Kristen Broady, a fellow at Brookings Metro, a Washington D.C.-based think tank. “We need to focus on ending the pandemic, otherwise almost nothing else matters because we’ll keep losing thousands and thousands of Americans a day.”
Certain sectors are already seeing the impact. Data from OpenTable, which tracks restaurant reservations, shows “some really big negative numbers” in Seattle, New York City, Philadelphia and Cleveland, said John Lettieri, chief executive of the Economic Innovation Group, a bipartisan research and public policy organization. Several cities went from having restaurants at roughly 30% extra capacity to having close to 75% unfilled capacity, a drop that applied across different cities and regions.
The Independent Restaurant Coalition has already been pushing the administration to endorse congressional legislation to replenish a fund for restaurants created as part of the American Rescue Plan.
“There’s still a ton of uncertainty, but we are seeing what could be the beginning of a serious dip,” Lettieri said. “The data is so uniformly pronounced and sizable a shift that, if it were to continue, could spell significant trouble. But, at least so far, the new variant seems to have burned out relatively quickly in other countries.”
With Thailand being able to achieve its first phase goal of administering more than 100 million doses, or vaccinating 70 per cent of its population, resulting in increased immunity, the rate of infection has continued to decline while foreign countries have seen higher infection rates, Sanan Angubolkul, chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC), said on Wednesday.
Also, with the government preparing to run a booster campaign next year, this will help strengthen the confidence of people both at home and abroad.
He said the Thai Chamber of Commerce agrees with the government to temporarily put on hold the Test & Go scheme, although this decision will have some impact on the economy.
However, he believes the government will not have to lock down the country.
Approximately 110,000 people have been approved for travel through the Sandbox and Test & Go schemes, out of 200,000 who requested to enter the country. He feels this will not affect tourism as the number of foreign tourists in previous months was small.
As for 2022, the TCC expects foreign tourists to gradually enter Thailand in the first quarter. And if the Omicron situation improves, the country will start to see more tourists from the second quarter, estimated at 5 million to 6 million.
The Covid-19 Omicron variant poses a major risk to the overall economic outlook and needs close monitoring, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said on Wednesday.
The MPC expects the economy to expand by 0.9 per cent in 2021, up by 0.7 per cent the previous year.
The revised forecast increased by 0.2 per cent as a result of better economic growth in the third quarter.
In 2022, the economy is expected to grow at 3.4 per cent, down from the previous forecast of 3.9 per cent, because of two important factors – the number of tourists have decreased due to the Omicron outbreak and the global economy is tending to slow down from the outbreak.
In 2023, the Thai economy is expected to expand 4.7 per cent due to recovery in domestic spending and increased numbers of foreign tourists who will gradually return, according to the MPC.
Piti Disyatat, assistant governor for monetary policy at the Bank of Thailand, said the MPC expects a gradual recovery in tourist numbers early next year.
Therefore, strict measures (including suspending the Test & Go scheme) would not have a great impact while many tourists are expected to come back in the second half of next year.
Meanwhile, various business sectors are expected to recover in line with increased economic activity, though the economy could be affected in the first half of the year.
The impact may become more severe and prolonged than expected depending on the severity of the situation and control measures.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index closed at 1,626.79 on Wednesday, up 4.54 points or 0.28 per cent. Transactions totalled 60.93 billion baht with an index high of 1,632.33 and a low of 1,624.77.
The index advanced for the second consecutive day after rising by 6.45 points or 0.40 per cent on Tuesday.
The 10 stocks with the highest trade value today were GPSC, BRI, EA, CPALL, KBANK, TKS, AOT, III, JMART and KCE.
Other Asian indices were on the rise with one exception:
Japan’s Nikkei Index closed at 28,562.21, up 44.62 points or 0.16 per cent.
China’s Shanghai SE Composite closed at 3,622.62, down 2.51 points or 0.069 per cent, while the Shenzhen SE Component closed at 14,791.33, up 102.35 points or 0.70 per cent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed at 23,102.33, up 131.00 points or 0.57 per cent.
South Korea’s KOSPI Index closed at 2,984.48, up 9.45 points or 0.32 per cent.
Taiwan’s TAIEX Index closed at 17,826.83, up 37.56 points or 0.21 per cent.
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