BUSINESS NEWS:

Surapong vows not to intervene in interest rate policy

The Finance Minister insists he will criticize the Bang of Thailand’s interest policy whether the rate goes up or down but he won’t intervene in its work.

Finance Minister, Surapong Suebwonglee, said today the ministry would not intervene in the Bank of Thailand when it comes to the monetary policy.

The BoT’s Monetary Policy Committee will meet on August 27th to discuss its interest rate policy after having raised the one-day repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 3.50% on July 16.

The Finance Ministry and the central bank have been at loggerheads over the interest policy for some time as the former disagreed with any rate rise while the latter believes that rising inflation needs higher interest rate.

Thai inflation has hit new 10-year high for three consecutive months before reaching 9.2% in July.

Surapong stressed while the ministry would leave the monetary policy decision to the BoT he would still express his views whether he agrees or disagrees with the bank’s decision.

Meanwhile the Finance Minister revealed that a new series of stimulus measures would be introduced in September.

He said that the new stimuli would aim at boosting income.

The current government has launched two sets of stimulus measures since it took office earlier this year with the latest come into effect on August 1st.

Surapong is also confident that Thailand’s economic growth rate in 2008 would be 6% as hoped.

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Phratra: “Investment in irrigation project to benefit Thailand greatly”

A prominent economist has suggested that the government promptly invest in mass irrigation project to help Thailand achieve long-term sustainable economic growth.

Phatra Securities Director, Supavud Saicheua, agrees that state investment in mega-projects would help the local economy expand further over the longer term.

And he believes that the most beneficial investment the government should start is the irrigation project that can be of crucial help to the agricultural sector as farm products will likely see higher demand in the future.

Supavud suggested that a firm support to the industry would bring Thailand high profit without a doubt.

Other projects he advises the government to promptly launch are the dual-track and underground rail systems to help lower domestic transportation costs.

The director of Phatra Securities added that investors are to seriously take into account the ongoing political conflict which he expects to take more time before everything is resolved.

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Ratchaburi to cut investment budget due to delay in new power plant launches

The country’s major private electricity producer has planned to cut its medium-term investment budget due to delays in the new plant launches in neighboring Laos.

Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding said today it has planned to slash its five-year investment budget of 30 billion baht or around 892 million U.S. dollars because of delays in power plant projects in Laos.

The company was expected to start operations at Nam Nguem-3 plant in the northeastern neighbor in 2013 but had to postpone it to 2014 instead.

At the same time, its 1,653-megawatt lignite power plant in Laos which Ratchaburi holds a 40% stake is also being delayed.

As a result, the company’s plan to boost power production capacity target of 5,365.4 megawatts in 2013 is to be missed.

Ratchaburi has a generating capacity of 4,347 megawatts or 14% of Thailand’s total.

Meanwhile with construction risen at least 20% since the beginning of this year, Ratchaburi is also to negotiate about power prices with Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand which is its sole buyer.

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KRC expects Beijing 2008 games to boost Thai exports healthily

A leading economic think tank expects this year’s Olympic Games to be a good opportunity for Thailand to boost its exports.

Kasikorn Research Center (KRC) suggested that if the Commerce Ministry vigorously promotes Thai products during the Olympic games in China its ambition to boost monthly export value from 1.4 billion dollars to two billion dollars before the 2008 fiscal year ends in September would be achievable.

Beijing 2008 Games kicks off today and will run until August 24th.

KRC added with consistent export promotion from now the country’s trade value with the biggest Asian economy would positively jump from 31 billion dollars in 2007 to 61 billion dollars by 2010.

The center also urged producers to focus on maintaining high standard of Thai goods to help pave ways for new markets over the long term.


SET MONITOR:

The local market erased previous heavy gains in less active trade as investors cashed in on energy, banking and property shares.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand composite index slumped more than 14 points to 690.7 with quite an active volume of more than 16 billion baht or about 486 million dollars.

Retail investors sold further and posted a net sell of 587 million baht which is around 17.5 million dollars.

Foreign investors ended up being the biggest net buyer in a long time of 439 million baht or 13 million dollars followed by local institutions of 147 million baht that’s more than 4 million dollars.

Thailand’s main stock index succumbed to profit-taking and closed 2% lower after the local bourse surged healthily in the previous session.

Analysts said as today’s loss is relatively lower than Thursday’s gain the SET will likely see a brighter trade after the weekend.

 

SET Today: Weekdays 6:30 pm

SET SPOTLIGHT:

AOT enjoys higher int’l air traffic but domestic passenger no. falls sharply in H1-08

Airports of Thailand announced today it has recorded the total passenger number of 21.2 million at the Suvarnabhumi Airport during H1-08.

This can be divided into 17.57 million international passengers and 3.64 million domestic passengers.

Statistically, this represents an 8% on-year increase in overseas travelers but a 29% on-year fall in local passengers.

There were also 5% more of international flights landed and taken off at the Suvarnabhumi when compared with last year while domestic flight number dropped 26% on-year.

Meanwhile, AOT registered a 7.7% YoY rise in its cargo traffic.

This evening, AOT share price finished 2.5% lower at 38.75 baht apiece.

SET DATEBOOK:

9 Aug 2008: Diesel Price Cut: (All Service Stations)
down THB0.80 = THB35.04/Liter