Government Savings Bank (GSB) will offer various loan and savings packages to visitors at the year-ending Money Expo 2020, said president Vitai Ratanakorn.
The fair runs from this Thursday to Sunday (December 17-20) at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (Bitec).
A highlight is the “107 deposit” account, which boasts average annual interest of 3.52 per cent for a fixed deposit of 107 days on savings between Bt10,000 and Bt500,000. Seven-hundred accounts will be offered to savers aged 15 and above who have a GSB debit card and mobile app MyMo. Savers can also open the account at any GSB branch from December 17-27.
GSB will also offer mortgage loans at the expo. Borrowers who also take out life insurance will receive a fixed interest rate of 2.5 per cent for the first three years and MRR-1.5 per cent year from the fourth year (GSB’s current MRR is 6.245 per cent).
Meanwhile GSB SMEs Startup No 1 loans of up to Bt10 million will be available for businesses launched in the last three years. Borrowers who also sign up for life insurance and offer collateral worth over 50 per cent of the loan will be charged annual interest of 1.07 per cent in the first year and MOR/MRR + 1.50 per cent per year after that.
Also offered are “GSB D-VERs” short-term and long-term loans of Bt1 million-Bt100 million for companies to boost revolving funds or invest in assets.
Loans of Bt1 million to Bt20 million which are backed by full collateral and a life insurance subscription carry interest of 3.99 per cent in the first year, 4.99 per cent in the second year and MOR/MLR+0.75 per cent after that (GSB MOR rate is 5.995 per cent and MLR 6.15 per cent). If the collateral is 30 per cent of the loan, the rate is MOR/MLR+1.25 per cent.
Loans of Bt20 million-Bt100 million backed by a life insurance subscription and full collateral carry 4 per cent annual interest in the first two years and MOR/MLR+0.75 per cent for the following years. If the collateral is 30 per cent or over, the rate is MOR/MLR+1 per cent.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) Index rose by 7.13 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 1,484.34 in the morning session on Wednesday.
The top 10 stocks with the highest trade value in the morning session were CPAll, Banpu, PTTGC, KBank, BAM, PTT, SCC, AOT, IVL and IRPC.
The SET Index closed at 1,477.21 on Tuesday, up 1.08 points, or 0.07 per cent. The volume of total transactions was Bt91.74 billion, with an index high of 1,478.61 points and a low of 1,459.97.
The price of gold rose by Bt100 per baht weight in morning trade on Wednesday after surging by Bt200 per baht weight at close on Tuesday, the Gold Traders Association reported.
As of 9.29am, the buying price of a gold bar was Bt26,250 per baht weight and selling price Bt26,350 while gold ornaments cost Bt25,772 and Bt26,850, respectively.
At close on Tuesday, the buying price of a gold bar was Bt26,150 per baht weight and selling price Bt26,250 while gold ornaments cost Bt25,681.04 and Bt26,750, respectively.
The spot gold price moved to US$1,855 (Bt55,716) per ounce in the morning, while the Comex (Commodity Exchange) gold price to be delivered in February surged by $23.20 to $1,855.30 per ounce on Tuesday, thanks to hopes that the US Congress would approve a new economic stimulus package soon.
Besides, the market is keeping an eye on the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting to see whether the central bank will continue to ease its monetary policy or not.
The Hong Kong gold price meanwhile rose by HK$90 to $17,120 (Bt66,333) per tael, the Chinese Gold and Silver Exchange Society reported.
By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Anchalee Worrachate, Vildana Hajric
U.S. stocks halted a four-day losing streak as Congress moved toward a federal spending package that would boost the economy. Treasuries retreated.
The S&P 500 rebounded from its longest slide since September. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he will keep lawmakers in Washington until a deal gets done. The 10-year Treasury yield moved above 0.90% as the Federal Reserve began its two-day meeting. The dollar weakened for a second day. Oil advanced with gold.
Wall Street is growing increasingly confident that Democratic and Republican lawmakers will clinch a bill based on a $748 billion bipartisan proposal that would inject cash directly into the economy as prior benefits begin to expire at the end of the year. The vaccine rollout continues in the U.S. without any major disruptions so far.
“The markets really locked into the optimism trade and it’s been heavily discounting bad news and focusing on good news,” said Olivia Engel, chief investment officer of active quantitative equity at State Street Global Advisors. “I’m not surprised the market chose to focus more on the good news even as lockdown announcements are coming.”
Bristol-Myers Squibb climbed after Goldman Sachs Group added the drugmaker to its conviction buy list. In Europe, Volkswagen rallied 5% after the German carmaker’s board eased internal corporate tensions by backing CEO Herbert Diess. Trading was mixed in other markets. Asian stocks fell the most in two weeks.
While investors are pricing in optimism about the start of vaccine shots, there’s also ongoing concern over whether a stimulus bill from a bipartisan group of lawmakers will gain traction. The virus continued to rage in the U.S., threatening tighter restrictions across the nation. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat, warned that people should be prepared for a full shutdown. European governments are also tightening measures.
“Stimulus remains a key focus for the market, as it is the necessary bridge to expansive vaccinations,” said Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist for Ally Invest. “Market participants would like to see a deal sooner rather than later given the expectation for economic data to slow near term. In the absence of a deal, turbulence could pick up.”
In Europe, the pound rose and credit markets strengthened as Brexit negotiators pushed to reach a final trade deal. After a weekend of intense diplomatic activity, Michel Barnier, who leads the E.U. team, said he can see a path to a deal – if the two sides can resolve what he called their significant differences.
– – –
Here are some key events coming up:
– The Federal Reserve meets again Wednesday, with markets widely expecting fresh guidance on its continued asset purchases.
– Policy decisions from the Bank of England and central banks in Mexico, Switzerland and Indonesia are due Thursday. Japan and Russia announce decisions Friday.
These are the main moves in markets:
Stocks
– The S&P 500 Index climbed 1.3% as of 4 p.m. in New York.
– The Stoxx Europe 600 Index increased 0.3%.
– The MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased 0.3%.
– The MSCI Emerging Market Index was little changed.
Currencies
– The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dipped 0.5%.
– The euro rose 0.1%, to $1.2159.
– The British pound climbed 0.9%, to $1.3443.
– The Japanese yen strengthened 0.4%, to 103.64 per dollar.
Bonds
– The yield on 10-year Treasuries climbed two basis points, to 0.91%.
– The yield on two-year Treasuries rose less than one basis point, to 0.12%.
– Germany’s 10-year yield fell three basis points, to -0.61%.
Commodities
– West Texas Intermediate crude increased 1.3%, to $47.28 a barrel
– Gold futures strengthened 1.4%, to $1,858.30 an ounce.
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) aims to import 1.9 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) next year, followed by 1.8 million tonnes per year in 2022 and 2023, said new Egat governor Boonyanit Wongrukmit.
Boonyanit took office on December 4.
The state agency will also ask the Cabinet early next year to approve its plan to call bids for the procurement of a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in the Gulf of Thailand, he added.
It is also seeking opportunities to invest in upstream LNG businesses in the next three to five years. Egat is expanding into the emerging electric vehicle (EV) sector, targeting installation of 31 EV charging stations next year.
The state agency forecasts power demand in Thailand will edge up 4 per cent next year from the estimated 3 per cent year-on-year decline this year.
The Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT) is partnering up with state-run TOT to install 5G broadband technology system in 14 industrial estates under its management nationwide, IEAT governor Somchint Pilouk said.
The project is expected to be ready in three years. The first phase will focus on industrial estates in the Eastern Economic Corridor.
The IEAT and TOT will workout details of the project and how much the 5G system rollout will cost in each estate. IEAT has adopted many technological systems to enhance business operations in its estates.
Fugitive former PM Thaksin Shinawatra on Wednesday urged Chiang Mai residents to vote for the Pheu Thai candidate in Sunday’s local election, triggering claims from his opponents that the move violates the Constitution.
In a Facebook video posted on Wednesday, Thaksin said Pichai Lertpongadisorn had visited him in Dubai before deciding to enter the election for Chiang Mai Provincial Administrative Organisation (PAO) president.
Thaksin said he wanted Chiang Mai residents to enjoy the same quality of life as when he was prime minister, adding that he missed Thailand.
“As someone who was born in Chiang Mai, I would like to support [Pichai] because he will to put all his effort into working for the province. Hence, I would like to ask Chiang Mai people to vote for Pichai on December 20,” he said.
The former PM said he would never forget the people of Chiang Mai and that he believes they miss him, too.
Responding to the video, lawyer and social activist Srisuwan Janya submitted a petition to the Election Commission asking it to investigate whether the move violated Section 28 and 29 of the Constitution’s organic law on political parties.
Sections 28 and 29 prohibit outsiders who are not members of a party from controlling or directing the party’s activities, directly or indirectly.
“Thaksin’s move to invite Chiang Mai people to vote for Pheu Thai’s candidate in the PAO election shows a connection between him and the party which violates the abovementioned law. [This means] the Constitutional Court can rule for Pheu Thai to be dissolved,” said Srisuwan, who heads a group called the Association to Protect of the Constitution.
When governments in Europe announced new shutdowns amid surging coronavirus cases last month, some world leaders floated a tantalizing light at the end of the tunnel.
“I have no doubt that people will be able to have as normal a Christmas as possible,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said during a news conference Nov. 5, as he announced a four-week lockdown.
The reassurance, after a tough year when many families had already spent special occasions in isolation, served as motivation to put up with short-term restrictions.
But with coronavirus cases surging again as the holiday season approaches, and vaccine rollouts in stages too early to make a dent, hope for a Christmas miracle has come to look like a mirage.
In Germany, where officials spent weeks deciding whether to offer a Christmas reprieve from restrictions, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Sunday that the country would return to strict measures like those it had imposed at the start of the pandemic.
The Dutch government announced Monday that it would install its toughest restrictions yet over the holiday season, through Jan 19. “We realize just how far-reaching this decision is,” Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in an evening address to the nation. “This has been a year of sadness and mourning for many.”
The Italian media has speculated that a similar lockdown is impending, while other European countries, including Greece, have imposed measures ahead of Christmas.
Last week in the United States, California announced its restrictions would run through the holiday.
Many global health experts have welcomed the restrictions and shutdowns. “The festive season is a time to relax and celebrate,” World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Friday, but it “can very quickly turn to sadness.”
Putting a damper on Christmas can be a tough decision. In Canada, Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister grew emotional when he announced that strict rules for the province would continue over the holiday season. “I’m the guy who is stealing Christmas to keep you safe,” he said, his voice breaking.
Even restrictive measures might not be enough to keep the rate of transmission down over the holidays. On Tuesday, researchers from Imperial College London released a study suggesting that infections increased in London during the final weeks of the nationwide lockdown Johnson announced in November.
Johnson hasn’t entirely reversed his Christmas pledge, but his government on Monday announced large parts of the country, including most of London, would be placed under the highest level of virus restrictions this week.
Britain’s holiday plan – which calls for people to form a “Christmas bubble” of friends and family they wish to socialize with between Dec. 23 and 27 – will remain in place. But some politicians and experts argue it will come at a high cost.
“Letting down our guard for five days over Christmas could be very dangerous indeed,” Tobias Ellwood, a former British defense secretary, said in Parliament on Monday as he asked the government to review the Christmas bubble rules.
Health experts have been concerned for months about Christmas – especially extended, indoor, intergenerational celebrations that often involve travel. Christmas and Hanukkah are widely celebrated in Europe and the Americas, where the virus has hit hard.
Evidence from Thanksgiving celebrations in the United States and Canada show such gatherings can worsen the spread of the virus. Since the U.S. holiday, new daily confirmed cases have skyrocketed and the seven-day average is above 200,000.
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a television interview last week that the Christmas season may be worse than Thanksgiving for the spread the virus, as it lasts longer, running through New Year’s.
The middle of January “could be a really dark time for us,” Fauci told CNN last Tuesday.
Germany announced 16,362 new cases on Monday, marking another substantial increase in an outbreak that has led to 21,975 deaths. In the Netherlands, coronavirus cases surged to 9,884 on Sunday – the highest figure seen since late October.
Although daily cases in Britain haven’t reached the level of their November peak, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Monday that the government had identified a new variant of the virus and that it “may be associated with the faster spread in the south of England.”
Some governments have been able to flatten the curve, allowing a degree of normality over the Christmas period. France announced this weekend that it would relax rules for people in long-term care over the holidays.
But for many, this will be a Christmas like no other. In Belgium, where new cases declined steeply after a strict lockdown last month, residents are still advised to host their Christmas parties outside and allow only one guest to use the bathroom.
The restrictions are not limited to North America and Europe. In Brazil and Russia, two hotbeds of the pandemic with large Christian populations, some regional governments have banned Christmas festivities.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in early November that Christmas festivities, which usually take place on New Year’s Eve in the Russian Orthodox Church, were canceled, as it was “obvious that mass events will not be held.”
WASHINGTON – The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized the first rapid coronavirus test that can be taken at home without prescription and that yields immediate results.
The test could be a vital tool in the country’s fight against the virus, especially in the months before most Americans are vaccinated. Unlike previous home tests, this version does not require samples to be sent to a lab and can be taken without doctors’ orders by anyone older than 2.
The test, developed by Australian company Ellume, is one of several developments for coronavirus testing.
After months of failures, long lines and continued shortages, the country’s testing capacity is expected to increase rapidly in the coming two to three months, reaching many times its current levels, experts said. That reflects new technologies coming online and long-standing investments to ramp up production that are coming to fruition.
The FDA allowed the test under an emergency use authorization. The newly approved home test will cost about $30, and the first batches will be shipped the first week of January, according to Ellume.
“It’s a big deal, and a huge step for efforts to take back control from the virus,” said Mara Aspinall, a biomedical diagnostics professor at Arizona State University.
But given the pent-up demand for such a test, she said, there remain questions about how much of a difference it would make unless available in large quantities and also how to prevent people and companies from hoarding such a test by buying in bulk.
In an interview, Ellume chief executive Sean Parsons said supply initially will be limited to 100,000, with plans to increase manufacturing to 1 million by mid-2021. Parsons said his company will be announcing a partnership with a major retailer – such as Walgreens, CVS or Walmart – to sell the test and create policies that would prevent hoarding by consumers. He said Ellume is in talks to supply the tests in the future directly to companies and universities.
The test uses a nasal swab to collect a sample and produces results within minutes of using a plastic device similar to a home pregnancy test.
One critical feature of the new home tests: the ability to capture and report test results.
For months, at least two dozen companies have been trying to develop home tests, most of them rapid antigen tests that detect proteins on the surface of the virus. Because labs are not involved in such tests, there was no clear way to report the results. Without that data, experts warned that the country would be flying blind as it navigates the later stages of the pandemic.
Ellume’s test requires users to download an app on their smartphone to see their test result. That app automatically sends data by Zip code to the cloud – ensuring that regional health officials can learn about positive results while keeping the data confidential, the company said.
“Today’s authorization is a major milestone in diagnostic testing for COVID-19,” FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said in a statement. “As we continue to authorize additional tests for home use, we are helping expand Americans’ access to testing, reducing the burden on laboratories and test supplies.”
While experts hailed the new test as a long-awaited development, many also worried that people may view the use of such tests as tacit permission to disregard precautions such as wearing masks or maintaining distance. They note that some rapid tests have been 90% to 97% accurate in detecting the virus, and that detection often depends on when people take the test.
Experts also caution that while people can take the test one day and get a negative result, they can acquire the virus the next day.
Last month, the FDA approved another single-use home test kit, but it required a prescription from a doctor. That test, developed by California biotechnology company Lucira Health, was expected to sell for less than $50, company officials said.
In coming weeks, more new tests are expected to be approved. Experts said that with increasing capacity, a growing need exists for state and federal officials to come up with a national strategy for how to deploy the tests more effectively and to provide federal funding for regular, dedicated mass testing in schools, hard-hit nursing homes and among essential workers.
By The Washington Post · Mike DeBonis, Tony Romm, Seung Min Kim, Jeff Stein
WASHINGTON – Congressional negotiations on spending and economic relief picked up speed on Tuesday as top lawmakers met for an hour in the afternoon and then planned to reconvene in the evening, a sign that negotiations are reaching a critical stage.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., hosted the three other most senior congressional leaders – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. – in her office.
“We’re not leaving here without a covid package. It’s not going to happen,” McConnell said at his news conference Tuesday before the first gathering. “We’re going to stay here, no matter how long it takes.”
The first meeting adjourned about 5 p.m. Eastern time, and the second meeting was set to begin at 7:30 p.m. Lawmakers face a Friday night deadline to pass legislation before a government shutdown, and they are trying to assemble an economic relief package to provide jobless aid and small-business assistance.
The meetings represent the first time in months leaders have met in person to hash out a broad bipartisan deal that could include hundreds of billions in spending in coronavirus relief. Talks remained fluid, and it is unclear whether a second round of $1,200 stimulus checks would be included in the final agreement. Similarly, lawmakers continued to wrangle over whether to include aid for state and local governments in a stimulus deal.
Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin also spoke for more than an hour about the spending legislation and a potential pandemic-relief package at about noon Tuesday, according to Drew Hammill, a Pelosi spokesman, illustrating how the Trump administration is involved in this stage of the negotiations.
Previous efforts to reach a compromise have failed since the spring. President-elect Joe Biden has urged lawmakers to reach a deal during the lame duck session of Congress, and Democrats have signaled in recent weeks that they are more open to a smaller-scale package than they were before the election.
Two main items were on the Tuesday afternoon agenda. First, lawmakers are trying to finalize a $1.3 trillion spending accord that will keep the government open past Friday through September 2021. Second, lawmakers are trying to pin down a coronavirus relief deal that would extend numerous expiring aid programs and provide new funding to accelerate and expand distribution of the new coronavirus vaccines.
The renewed momentum behind a deal comes as senior Democratic lawmakers indicate a greater willingness to compromise and a forceful push by a bipartisan group of lawmakers pass a relief bill before Christmas recess.
Lawmakers also face intense pressure to approve new relief with multiple critical emergency programs set to expire by the end of the year, including jobless benefits for 12 million Americans and rental protections for as many 30 million Americans.
On Monday, a bipartisan group spearheaded by Sens. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., released a $748 billion proposal that would devote hundreds of billions of dollars to unemployed Americans and small business relief, as well as tens of billions of dollars for transportation, education, vaccine distribution, and other needs. The group released a second bill consisting of a liability shield offering businesses immunity from lawsuits and about $160 billion in state and local aid – the two provisions that have most sharply divided lawmakers for months.
The bipartisan group’s proposal would extend the expiring unemployment benefits and eviction moratorium for one month. It would not extend a federal paid sick leave benefit currently being used by tens of millions of Americans.
The legislation also excludes another round of $1,200 stimulus checks although that measure is supported by the White House and numerous congressional Democrats. On an internal Republican call on Monday, Romney said the checks would cost $300 billion to include and that the additional borrowing had already made “people on both sides nervous,” according to two people familiar with the exchange.
Romney had pushed the stimulus checks and more money for vaccines in the bipartisan group’s negotiations in exchange for dropping state aid and the liability shield, but was rebuffed, two people familiar with the internal deliberations said.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Tuesday that Trump would support direct payments as part of a package but would not say if they represented a red-line demand for the administration.
“We are hopeful there is a deal there that the president then can look at and support,” she said.
Pelosi and Schumer first backed a $908 billion bill released by the group earlier this month as the starting point for negotiations, although it was significantly smaller than what Democrats had pushed. In recent days, both House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Senate Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill. – the second highest-ranking Democrats in the House and Senate – publicly suggested they would approve a relief package even without the state and local funding component Democrats have demanded for months.
Pelosi continued to advocate for state and local aid during a phone call with Mnuchin on Monday, Hammill said. The White House also included $160 billion in state and local aid in its latest relief proposal. But people close to negotiations believe state and local aid appears likely to fall by the wayside as lawmakers move closer to a final agreement. Although several Senate Republicans support providing state and local aid, McConnell has made clear that he would not back legislation that includes only state and local funding and not the liability shield.
Lawmakers have so far proven unable to reach a compromise on the liability shield, with Manchin representing the only Democrat to back sweeping legal protections from coronavirus-related lawsuits.
On Monday, Durbin backed a $748 billion bipartisan relief package spearheaded by a group of moderate lawmakers that excludes both the state and local aid funding and the liability shield. Hoyer on CNN on Sunday acknowledged Democrats would not “get everything we want” and suggested disbursing emergency aid was more important than holding firm on state and local funding.
“I want to be clear: I’m not giving up on funding for states and localities. This funding is essential in our fight against the pandemic and for our economic recovery,” Durbin said in a statement. “While the fight continues over these issues, we must provide some emergency relief for the American people before we go home for the holidays. I support the $748 billion bipartisan package.”
Lawmakers have little time to act. Trump on Friday signed into law a one-week spending measure that gave lawmakers until this Friday to reach a more comprehensive agreement in order to avoid a government shutdown. If lawmakers have not hammered out all of their issues, they could be forced to seek another short-term spending measure, which could push further negotiations into next week.
Egat governor Boonyanit Wongrukmit 
IEAT governor Somchint Pilouk 
former PM Thaksin Shinawatra 
SootinClaimon.Com 