The TCG has prepared direct guarantees of Bt1.5 billion for these SMEs, TCG president Rak Vorrakitpokatorn said, adding that the service will begin later this month.

The direct guarantee is similar to a letter of guarantee to needy SMEs, which can hand it to banks to seek loans with TCG backup.

Currently, SMEs have to seek loans at banks first. If they do not have enough credit, the banks will advise them to seek TCG help.

TCG has already partnered with three banks in the initiative, Rak added.

The SMEs qualified for the direct guarantee must be ones that have been in operation for at least five years and reporting substantial revenue. Their balance sheets must report a positive financial status for a consecutive three years.

The TCG will provide guarantees not exceeding Bt40 million per SME.

The fee for the guarantee is between 2.5 per cent and 3 per cent of the total guaranteed loan.

The Bank of Thailand Scholarship Students (BOTSS) cited analysts’ forecast on the baht exchange rate in 2020, complied by Bloomberg news agency. It said median of the baht value would be declining next year.

The BOTSS Facebook page is run by current and former staffs of the central bank, it shares economic news and data with the public.

As of December 4, foreign and Thai analysts saw opposing directions of the baht movement.

JPMorgan Chase forecast the baht would depreciate to Bt30.6 per dollar in the fourth quarter next year. While Standard Chartered believed it would drop to Bt31 per dollar in the same period and Bt31.30 in 2021.

Rabobank put the baht value at Bt33.8 per dollar in the final quarter of next year.

Their views differed from those of Thai analysts who estimated the baht would continue to appreciate against the US dollar and other currencies in the region.

The predictions of foreign and Thai analysts suggested that the baht would move in either direction, or moving in a range between Bt28.7 to 33.8/dollar, according to BOTSS.

Earlier, deputy central bank governor Mathee Supapongse said the baht was on a downtrend but urged exporters to brace for a two-way movement.

His message was apparently intended to counter the negative views of some Thai exporters and analysts who saw continuous strengthening of the baht after a 7 per cent gain on the dollar this year.

Analysts at Kasikornbank forecast the baht to appreciate to Bt29.3 per dollar next year.

Charl Kengchon, executive chairman at Kasikorn Research Centre said on Monday that the baht will strengthen further if the US Federal Reserve lowers its key policy rate again in the first quarter next year. It is likely to happen, he added.

A major factor pushing up the baht is the country’s high current account surplus at around $30 billion, despite the higher figures in the past two years.

Foreign investors will still consider the baht a safe haven asset among emerging market economies, Charl believes.

“There is no question that this trade agreement is much better than NAFTA. It is infinitely better than what was initially proposed by the administration,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking hours before representatives of the U.S., Mexico and Canada are expected to sign the revised deal at a meeting in Mexico City. “We’re declaring victory for the American worker.”

In a major win for the Trump administration, the nation’s largest labor federation backed the compromise.

“We demanded a trade deal that benefits workers and fought every single day to negotiate that deal; and now we have secured an agreement that working people can proudly support,” said Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO.

Trumka called the revised accord “a vast improvement over both the original NAFTA and the flawed proposal brought forward in 2017.”

The agreement is the first to include “enforceable labor standards,” which will include inspections of suspect manufacturing sites in Mexico, he said.

In a series of Twitter posts Tuesday, Trump hailed the breakthrough.

He wrote that the “Trade Bill is looking good. It will be the best and most important trade deal ever made by the USA. Good for everybody – Farmers, Manufacturers, Energy, Unions – tremendous support. Importantly, we will finally end our Country’s worst Trade Deal, NAFTA!”

He later wrote that it was “Looking like very good Democrat support for USMCA. That would be great for our Country!”

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups also announced backing for the compromise hammered out between congressional Democrats and the Trump administration.

Democrats said they had secured specific changes in the text signed by Trump and the leaders of Mexico and Canada one year ago. The Democratic revisions eliminated a provision in the deal that would have extended data included tougher environmental standards

“We made this agreement,” said Rep. Richard Neal, the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

The revised trade deal – called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement – represents an overhaul of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.

It would create new intellectual property protections, require more North American parts to be used in automobiles to qualify for zero tariffs, open the Canadian milk market to U.S. farmers, and create new rules for e-commerce. It would also boost wages, benefits, and safety rules for workers and put in place updated environmental protections.

The changes would impact a wide range of industries, including agricultural, pharmaceutical, automotive, and manufacturing.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Trump son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner are expected to be in Mexico on Tuesday to help secure the pact.

Senate Republicans are preparing meetings for Lighthizer to brief senators on the details of the proposed agreement, including one for members of the Finance Committee later this week and another tentatively for all GOP senators next Tuesday, according to people familiar with the planning who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because plans were yet to be finalized.

Pelosi met privately Monday evening with several of her party members who have negotiated with Lighthizer for months to revise the initial trade agreement struck with Mexico and Canada for terms more favorable for Democrats. The House Democrats leaving the meeting declined to confirm a deal but signaled one was imminent, with Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.) indicating that lawmakers could see “verification” of an agreement sometime Tuesday afternoon.

Neal, who was on a flurry of phone calls with Pelosi and Lighthizer over the weekend, also said the House should be able to hold a floor vote on the trade deal by the end of the year.

“If it’s where we think it is and so forth and the pieces that we thought were critically important . . . are there and get a chance to look at that, then I will be satisfied,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., a key figure in the party’s left flank who had also been negotiating with Lighthizer.

“BOT has taken note of the problem faced by those credit card debtors’ during its Debt Clinic, and decided to help them via market mechanisms,” she explained. “The programme is being discussed. It will possibly take some time before clear guidelines are created and BOT can proceed.”

The refinance programme aims to help debtors by reducing their interest rates from 18 to 28 per cent to 7 to 12 per cent.

BOT specified that those who can avail of the refinance must not be over seventy years of age on the day the contract ends.

There will be a fixed installment throughout the contract, with an installment period of 1 to 4 years and a financial limit of Bt100,000 per person.

Those interested in the programme must agree to undergo checks by the National Credit Bureau every month.

The resolution and guidelines on franchise business will come into effect on February 4, he added.

The main purpose, Santichai said, is to establish a good corporate governance system and clear codes of practice in establishing correct trade norms through systemic development, which will enhance the franchise business to international standard.

The guidelines identifies prohibited behaviour which may be in violation of Article 57 of the Competition Act B.E. 2560, as follows:

1. Defining conditions that limit franchise rights without valid reasons, such as franchisees having to buy products that are not related to the franchise or purchase raw materials in quantities that are higher than the actual demand.

2. Setting additional conditions after the contract without valid reasons such as allowing the franchisees to purchase products other than those specified

3. Prohibiting franchisees from purchasing products or services from manufacturers or other service providers without valid reasons

4. Prohibiting franchisees form selling discounted perishable goods without vaild reasons.

5. Defining different conditions between franchisees which may lead to unfair trade practices.

6. Defining inappropriate conditions other than maintaining the quality and standards of the contract

Furthermore, to ensure transparency and fairness, the franchisor must disclose important information to the franchisee before drawing up a contract, such as information about compensation and business expenses, franchise business plan, trademark rights, their amendments if any, as well as termination of the contract.

A major item on the agenda is the establishment of community power plants totalling 1,000 megawatts in next three years, adding that details of the plan will be submitted to National Energy Policy Council on December 16.

He expects the project to attract Bt80 billion in investments next year.

The ministry will also promote community-based energy centres, where electricity will be generated from renewable sources .

The difference between community energy centres and community power plants is that the former will generate power for their own use and not for sales.

He added that the ministry will tap into The Energy Conservation Fund in funding the setup of community energy centres and might invite private sector participation.