14 Jun 2019
Financial Markets
The Baht hit a 3-1/2 month high of THB31.14/USD. The Baht rose along with net foreign stock and bond buying orders earlier in the week. In addition, the US dollar tumbled on an expectation that the Fed might cut its policy rate by the end of the year, and disappointing US economic data, including we... Read more
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7 Jun 2019
The Baht hit the strongest level in over 3 months at THB31.28/USD. The Baht strengthened in line with net foreign stock and bond buying orders, while the US dollar fell on the Fed Chairman’s remarks that the Fed would act appropriately to sustain the US economic expansion, fuelling expectation of th... Read more
31 May 2019
The Baht strengthened, after having fallen earlier in the week. The Baht weakened along with other regional currencies that were pressured by concerns about the trade tension between the US and China. However, the Baht rebounded later in the week on net stock and bond buying orders of foreign invest... Read more
24 May 2019
The Baht rebounded later in the week, after having fallen to the THB32.00/USD level. The Baht fell early to mid week, along with the weaker Yuan and other regional currencies amid heightened trade tension between the US and China. However, the Baht pared losses somewhat and recovered later in the we... Read more
17 May 2019
The Baht weakened later in the week. The Baht fell briefly in line with weaker Yuan and other Asian currencies. The Baht later rebounded to a 2-1/2 month high of THB31.45/USD on net foreign bond buying orders, as market participants put focus on the US Treasury’s FX report. However, the Baht fell la... Read more
10 May 2019
The Baht tested the THB31.55/USD level, an over 1-month high, in late week. The Baht rose early in the week amid heightened tension between the US and China on their trade deal. In addition, there were short-covering orders, as Thai financial markets reopened after long holidays. The Baht weakened b... Read more
7 May 2019
Financial Institutions
In 2018, the number of ATMs and electronic devices used in the commercial banking system contracted 0.98 percent YoY, against the 5.17 percent growth reported for 2017, representing the first shrinkage in 35 years. Such a contraction was consistent with the substantial increase in the number of fina... Read more
3 May 2019
The Baht fell slightly, but still traded within a narrow range around THB32.00/USD. The Baht edged up early in the week, as the US dollar barely drew any support ahead of the FOMC meeting. The Baht weakened later in the week, as the US dollar rose after the Fed gave no signal to cut its policy rate ... Read more
30 Apr 2019
We at KResearch expect that the Bank of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will likely keep its policy rate intact at 1.75 percent during the third meeting of 2019 pending an assessment of Thai economic development and results of the implementation of macro-and micro-prudential monetary poli... Read more
26 Apr 2019
The Baht hit a near 4-month low of THB32.10/USD, before paring losses. The Baht fell in line with net foreign selling orders of Thai bonds and weak regional currencies. The US dollar rose on stronger-than-expected US economic data, and also extended gains against the Euro on the back of concerns abo... Read more
25 Apr 2019
The Baht weakened past THB32.00/USD, moving within a range of THB32.02-32.09/USD on April 25, 2019, representing the weakest level since the beginning of 2019 and declining by approximately 1.5 percent from that reported one month ago. The softening Thai currency was consistent with cautious stance ... Read more
Net loans in March 2019 expanded from the previous month but the increase fails to lift the overall loans in 1Q19 back to positive territory. Net loans declined by 0.11 percent compared to the outstanding loans at the end of 2018, attributable chiefly to a steady drop of corporate and SME loans of s... Read more
19 Apr 2019
The Baht fell to THB31.80/USD. The Baht weakened after the reopening of domestic financial markets following long public holidays. The Baht’s weakness was in line with net foreign stock and bond selling orders while the US dollar gained on stronger-than-expected US economic data, including a fall in... Read more
12 Apr 2019
The Bank of Thailand recently sent a warning about increasing risks associated with auto loans due to competitive tactics by some banks in collaboration with some auto companies and car dealers to approve loan amount beyond the collateral value. For example, they did not deduct the discount the cust... Read more
The Baht pared gains later in the week. The Baht rose early in the week on foreign investors’ net buying orders of Thai stocks, while the US dollar fell on a weak US Factory Orders data for February. Later, the Baht pared gains on net foreign bond selling orders, as well as weak regional currencies,... Read more
5 Apr 2019
The cancellation of funds transfer fee via digital channels was the main factor that continued to pressure operating results of Thai commercial banks during 1Q19. It is expected that their fees from other transactions, in particular insurance brokerage, management and advisory fees, may grow at a sl... Read more
The Baht fell later in the week. The Baht rose early in the week in alignment with the Yuan and other regional currencies amid stronger-than-expected Chinese PMI reported for March. However, the Baht’s upside gains were still limited as market participants awaited a clearer picture of domestic polit... Read more
29 Mar 2019
The Baht rebounded slightly, after having fallen earlier in the week. The Baht fell early to mid week in line with net foreign selling orders in the Thai stock and bond markets, while investors kept an eye on political situations after the general elections. In addition, the US Dollar rose amid conc... Read more
26 Mar 2019
Net loans accelerated in February, supported by key retail loans, i.e. home and auto hire-purchase loans, in line with growing loan demand as a result of short-term factors. These include higher number of home ownership transfers before the enforcement of a new home loan measure on April 1, 2019 and... Read more
22 Mar 2019
The Baht stayed in a narrow range, but was volatile after the MPC and FOMC meetings. The Baht moved in a narrow band before falling to a 2-week low of THB31.97/USD after the BOT’s MPC members unanimously voted to keep its policy rate at 1.75%, and the BOT also revised downward its 2019 GDP forecast.... Read more
15 Mar 2019
The Baht edged up against the US dollar. The Baht rose slightly early in the week while the US dollar fell on weaker-than-expected US CPI and PPI reports for February. The soft US inflation figures reinforced expectations that the Fed’s policy rate-hike pace would be slower this year. However, the B... Read more
1 Mar 2019
The Baht hit a 1-month low. The Baht edged up early in the week on optimism about the US-China trade talks. The Baht, however, tumbled to a 1-month low of THB31.76/USD on the back of foreign investors’ selling orders of Thai stocks and bonds late in the week. The US dollar also gained on the rising ... Read more
26 Feb 2019
KResearch summarizes the information about loans, deposits and financial liquidity at 14 Thai commercial banks as of the end of January 2019 based on the Summary Statement of Assets and Liabilities with highlights as follows: ... Read more
22 Feb 2019
The Baht hit the highest level in more than 5 years at THB31.07/USD, before reversing those gains later in the week. The Baht rose along with risky assets and other regional currencies, including the Yuan amid the US-China trade talks. It also gained on hefty net foreign stock buying orders in mid-w... Read more
20 Feb 2019
It is worth noting that although foreign investors have held a net selling position in both the Thai stock and bond markets, with a combined worth of approximately THB20.4 billion, since early 2019, the Baht has appreciated quite substantially against other Asian currencies, in particular the Yuan, ... Read more
8 Feb 2019
The Baht traded in a narrow range, before weakening later in the week. Although the Baht moved within a limited range, it had a slightly strong bias on the back of net foreign stock and bond buying orders. However, the Baht fell later in the week on the BOT’s signal to step into the market ... Read more
1 Feb 2019
The Baht hit an almost 9-month high of THB31.18/USD after the FOMC meeting. The Baht rose in line with net foreign stock buying orders and other Asian currencies. The US dollar, however, tumbled on the Fed’s dovish statement. The Fed cut a reference to the Fed’s plan for further gradual rate hikes a... Read more
31 Jan 2019
Thai Baht has surged to THB31.23/USD or up 4.4 percent from the beginning of this year due mainly to a weaker US dollar. The movement of Thai Baht was in alignment with other currencies in the region. However, from the beginning of this year, the Thai currency hit a record high in nine months and be... Read more
KResearch expects the Bank of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to keep the policy rate unchanged at 1.75 percent during the upcoming meeting after it raised policy rate by 0.25 percentage point on December 19, 2018. Since the Thai GDP growth begins to show signs of slowdown, the... Read more
Over the past few years, the Bank of Thailand (BOT), Ministry of Finance and other relevant agencies have gradually introduced notifications and/or regulations to supervise various types of retail loans. Their attempts are intended to set clear scopes and conditions for related businesses, as well a... Read more
29 Jan 2019
In December 2018, net loans overall grew over the previous month by THB118 billion, or 1.03 percent MoM. As a result, net loans for 2018 increased 5.17 percent YoY, with net outstanding loans outstanding at THB11.63 trillion. Growth was seen in all types of loans, led by retail loans. Meanwhile, out... Read more
18 Jan 2019
The Baht hit an 8-month high before paring gains later in the week. The Baht rose in line with net foreign stock buying orders and rising risky assets. Meanwhile, the US dollar faced sell-offs on the back of weak US economic data, signals to slow the US-rate hike path from the Fed Vice Chairman, and... Read more
4 Jan 2019
The uptrend of interest rate is ultimately evident by commercial banks’s decisions to raise their interest rates by starting from deposit rates. Their fixed-deposit rates for three, six, 12, 24 and 36 months are raised by 25 basis points. Hence, the fixed deposit rates of some major commercial banks... Read more
The Baht hit a 7-month high of THB32.00/USD. A stronger Baht was due to the US dollar’s sell-offs amid concerns about a partial government shutdown. Meanwhile, weaker-than-expected US economic data hurt the US dollar sentiment and reinforced worries about uncertain US interest rate hike cycle. The B... Read more
28 Dec 2018
The Baht rose to test THB32.40/USD later in the week amid the US dollar’s sell-offs on the back of concerns about the US partial government shutdown, economic slowdown in the US and globally, as well as prolonged trade tension between the US and China.... Read more
26 Dec 2018
The credit card business is likely to end the year with satisfactory growth, similar to other types of retail loans. Toward the year-end, competition of the credit card business is characterized by active campaigns and special promotions presented by commercial banks and non-bank operators to boost ... Read more
24 Dec 2018
The year 2018 has been another year for Thai banks to always be vigilant of various issues. While their fee incomes have contracted due to the reduction of digital funds transfer fees, loan growth has been helpful in offsetting this negative factor. With the support of retail loan growth in the last... Read more
20 Dec 2018
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) agrees to lift the policy rate by 0.25 percentage points from 1.50 to 1.75, the first rate increase in seven years. The lift is aimed at building policy space for the future. KResearch views that the policy rate increase is unlikely to have a significant impact on... Read more
14 Dec 2018
KResearch views that there is a greater chance that this year’s last meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will resolve to increase the policy interest rate by 0.25 percent after some signals were clearly sent by the committee on the necessity to rebalance the monetary policy in order to en... Read more
The Baht rose, but within a narrow range. The Baht rose slightly in line with the Yuan and other Asian currencies amid easing concerns about the US-China trade tension after news reported that China could undo the tariffs on American-made cars. However, the Baht’s upside gains were capped later whil... Read more
30 Nov 2018
The Baht broke the THB33.00/USD level. The Baht rose amid the US dollar’s sell-offs after the Fed Chairman said that the Fed’s benchmark rate is just below neutral level. The remarks were seen as a signal for a slower tightening cycle of the Fed rate hikes in 2019. However, the Baht’s upside gains w... Read more
23 Nov 2018
The Baht weakened later in the week. It briefly rose early in the week on doubts about the US rate-hike outlook next year after Fed officials expressed concerns about the weaker global economic outlook. However, the Baht reversed gains and fell later in the week on a weaker-than-expected 3Q-18 Thai ... Read more
16 Nov 2018
The Baht was stronger than THB33.00/USD again. It briefly fell early in the week on the US rate-hike prospect, which helped support the US dollar sentiment. However, the Baht rebounded later on as the US dollar faced sell-offs amid hopes for solutions toward the BREXIT deal and US-China trade negoti... Read more
9 Nov 2018
The Baht was weaker than THB33.00/USD again. The Baht was volatile early in the week ahead of the US mid-term elections. However, the Baht rebounded later on as the US dollar fell after the midterm elections results. Democrats won the U.S. House of Representatives while Republicans held on to their ... Read more
The Bank of Thailand has announced the criteria to supervise housing loans by adjusting certain details in the Consultation Paper and postponed the effective date to April 1, next year (from the initial schedule of January 2019). The new requirement will not cover purchase and sale contracts or down... Read more
2 Nov 2018
The Baht strengthened later in the week. The Baht hit a 2-1/2 month low of THB33.32/USD in early week amid the weakening Asian currencies and Yuan on the back of news that the US will escalate its trade dispute with China by imposing tariffs on all remaining imports from China. The US dollar rose fu... Read more
26 Oct 2018
The Baht weakened and later broke the THB33.00/USD level. The Baht fell on a disappointing Thai export data and hefty net foreign stock selling-orders during the week. Meanwhile, the US dollar rose amid risk aversion, triggered by concerns about the EU’s formal steps to reject Italy's budget and Chi... Read more
In September, net loans in the Thai commercial banking system rose THB3.76 billion or 0.03 percent over the previous month, reaching THB11.345 trillion. The increase, which was supported by growth in all types of retail loans, resulted in the rise in net outstanding loans by 5.78 percent as compared... Read more
19 Oct 2018
The Baht strengthened, but its gains were capped later in the week. The Baht rose early- to mid-week along with net foreign bond buying orders while the US dollar fell on a weaker-than-expected US retail sales data. However, the Baht pared gains somewhat later in the week in line with falling... Read more
10 Oct 2018
Government policy to expand the supervision of the providers of auto-for-cash loans to be approved by the Bank of Thailand and Ministry of Finance is an important step toward more extensive supervisory scope with respect to financial service providers. With a well-defined, transparent business frame... Read more
4 Oct 2018
The Bank of Thailand has planned to issue macro-prudential measures to control speculation in the property market, where the measures are expected to set the loan-to-value (LTV) for the second home or other specific requirements to ensure debt servicing ability of the borrowers. KResearch ... Read more
28 Sep 2018
The Baht rose slightly late in the week, but its movement remained tight. The Baht fell early in the week in line with other regional currencies amid steepened tension related to the US-China trade deal after China canceled trade talks with the US before the latter’s new tariffs on Chinese goods wer... Read more
26 Sep 2018
Net loans in the Thai commercial banking system (14 commercial banks) grew THB26.4 billion to THB11.34 trillion in August, rising 0.23 percent MoM or 5.85 percent YoY. The increase was supported by all types of retail loan while SME loans began to recover somewhat. However, because there were still ... Read more
14 Sep 2018
We at KResearch are of the view that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will likely keep its policy rate steady at 1.50 percent during the meeting scheduled for September 19, 2018. This is because it may not see the need to raise its policy rate much at this time despite steady improvements in the ... Read more
The Baht hit a 2-month high last week. The Baht fell briefly early in the week on concerns about the fragile emerging markets while the US dollar extended gains on a stronger-than-expected US Non-farm Payrolls data. However, the Baht rebounded later in the week, along with net foreign buying orders ... Read more
7 Sep 2018
The Baht traded in a narrow range, but weaker than the previous week. The Baht fell on weak regional currencies that were pressured by sell-offs of emerging market currencies on the back of their fragile economies. Meanwhile, the US dollar was supported by ongoing trade disputes between the US and i... Read more
31 Aug 2018
The Baht fell, after having hit a 2-month of THB32.50/USD. The Baht rose on net foreign bond buying orders and the US dollar’s sell-offs on the back of US-Mexico trade deal. However, the Baht weakened later in the week, as the US dollar strengthened on stronger than expected US economic reports that... Read more
24 Aug 2018
The Baht broke the THB33.00/USD level. The Baht rose to a 2-month high of THB32.65/USD after the Yuan and other Asian currencies rose on the back of optimism on the US-China trade negotiations. The US dollar faced sell-offs after US President Trump criticized the Fed Chairman and said that he disagr... Read more
17 Aug 2018
The Baht rose late in the week. The Baht fell briefly early of the week, after concerns about the Lira crisis triggered sell-offs of emerging-market assets, Asian currencies, and the Baht. However, the Baht later pared those losses and recovered on the back of the rebounding Yuan and other Asian cur... Read more
10 Aug 2018
The Baht pared gains around end of week. The Baht earlier rose on net foreign stock buying orders, and the rebounding Yuan after the PBOC signaled that they would take action to stabilize the Yuan movement. The US dollar sell-offs on the back of the falling US bond yields were also the Baht’s suppor... Read more
6 Aug 2018
KResearch expects that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will resolve to maintain their policy rate at 1.50 percent during the fifth meeting of 2018 slated for August 8 to ensure that the recovery is seen across all economic sectors and inflation moves toward to its set target. It must be noted th... Read more
3 Aug 2018
The Baht weakened after the FOMC meeting. The Baht briefly rose on net foreign stock and bond buying orders. However, the Baht reversed those gains later in the week, along with weakening Yuan and regional currencies. Meanwhile, the dollar rose on the Fed’s statement, signaling that they would likel... Read more
26 Jul 2018
The Baht rose against the US dollar. A stronger Baht was in line with other Asian currencies, while the US dollar faced sell-offs after the US President said that the Fed’s tightening cycle might have impacts on the US economy and the strong US dollar could result in weaker US competitiveness. The U... Read more
25 Jul 2018
Net loans overall for June increased over the previous month by THB106 billion to THB11.31 trillion, or 0.95 percent MoM, the highest level in 1H18. When compared to the same period of 2017 and at the end of 2017, June net loans grew 5.02 percent YoY, or 2.23 percent YTD, chiefly at large banks in l... Read more
13 Jul 2018
The Baht hit over 9-month low of THB33.29/USD. The Baht fell to THB33.36/USD, the weakest level in 9 months. A weaker Baht was in line with the Yuan and regional currencies amid concern about the international trade situation between the US and China. Meanwhile, the US dollar also gained on strong U... Read more
6 Jul 2018
The Baht hit over 8-month low of THB33.29/USD. The Baht and regional currencies fell along with risky assets, and Chinese Yuan (although the PBOC signaled to monitor the Yuan movement) amid concern about the international trade situation between the US and China, as US tariffs imposed on imports fro... Read more
29 Jun 2018
The Baht hit over 8-month low of THB33.22/USD. The Baht fell along with Chinese Yuan, most Asian Currencies, and other risky assets amid concerns about the international trade situation between the US and their trading partners, especially restrictions on investment and trade. The Baht was also pres... Read more
26 Jun 2018
Around 4-5 financial technology start-ups have begun providing Peer-to-Peer Lending (P2P Lending) in Thailand by focusing on retail borrowers, especially SME entrepreneurs. The online lending platform should provide these borrowers with an increased access to finance with a cheaper interest rate bec... Read more
25 Jun 2018
Net loans for May increased to almost the same level as that in April by THB65.9 billion, or 0.59 percent MoM to THB11.20 trillion. When compared to the same period of 2017 and at the end of 2017, May net loans grew 4.99 percent YoY, or 1.27 percent YTD due to the low base of last year. The increase... Read more
22 Jun 2018
The Baht broke the THB33.00/USD level to hit over 7-month low. The Baht fell along with net foreign stock and bond selling orders, while the US dollar rose further on the Fed Chairman’s remarks about more interest rate hikes in the coming months. Meanwhile, concerns about the international trade sit... Read more
15 Jun 2018
The Baht hit over 5-month low of THB32.46/USD. The Baht fell on net foreign stock and bond selling orders, while the US dollar rose strongly after the FOMC meeting. The Fed gave a hawkish signal that there would be two more rate hikes later in the year, compared with one hike signaled earlier. The ... Read more
8 Jun 2018
The Baht fell later in the week. The Baht edged up early- to mid-week in line with strong regional currencies, net foreign bond buying orders, and the US dollar sell-offs, especially against the Euro that was supported by expectation for the ECB’s signals to terminate their QE program by the end of ... Read more
1 Jun 2018
The Baht weakened slightly. The Baht fell to the weaker side of THB32.00/USD in early to mid week, along with weak regional currencies and net foreign selling orders for Thai stocks, while the US dollar also gained, especially against the Euro, pressured by concern about political uncertainty in Ita... Read more
25 May 2018
The Baht rose to the stronger side of THB32.00/USD. The Baht briefly fell early in the week on news that the US and China put trade war on hold. However, the Baht reversed those losses and strengthened later in the week, while the US dollar fell on concerns about uncertain outcome of US-China trade ... Read more
11 May 2018
The Baht broke the THB32.00/USD to hit a 4-month low of THB32.22/USD. The Baht fell, while the US dollar extended gains on expectations of the Fed’s rate hikes, boosted by surging global oil prices and higher inflationary concerns. However, the Baht pared those losses later in the week, as the... Read more
The Baht weakened further against the US dollar. The US dollar rose on US economic data, including industrial production, and Philadelphia Fed business outlook survey that came out stronger than expected, as well as the rising US bond yields. US 10-year Treasury bond yield hit its highest level sinc... Read more
10 May 2018
KResearch expects the Bank of Thailand’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to “maintain” their policy rate at 1.50 percent for the third time in 2018 during its meeting on May 16, 2018 to support the continued momentum of Thai economic growth. Domestic spending has not fully recovered amid limited su... Read more
4 May 2018
The Baht weakened to nearly THB31.75/USD. It appreciated early in the week, while investors sold the US Dollar somewhat to adjust their positions before the latest Fed meeting. However, the Baht pared those gains and weakened later on Thai bond sell-offs by foreign investors. The US Dollar wa... Read more
27 Apr 2018
The Baht hit a 2-month low. The Baht fell, while the US dollar rose along with the rising US bond yields. US 10-year yield surged to above 3%, the highest level in 4 years. In addition, the weak Baht was also in line with net stock and bond selling orders of foreign investors during the week. ... Read more
KResearch expects the Federal Reserve (Fed) will resolve to maintain its policy interest rate at 1.50-1.75 percent in its third meeting of this year, in awaiting to assess further developments of the US economy and risks arising from trade disputes. Given the US attempts to minimize their trade defi... Read more
26 Apr 2018
Net loans in March 2018 grew at a slower pace MoM, up by THB19 billion from February or 0.17 percent to THB11.07 trillion. Nonetheless, the overall lending in 1Q18 continued to expand well YoY, even though the beginning of the quarter was the period when borrowers had to repay their deb... Read more
20 Apr 2018
The Baht fell slightly against the US Dollar, but its movement overall remained within a narrow range all week. The baht fell along with weakening regional currencies, while the US Dollar rose on higher US Treasury yields after Fed officials remarked that the US inflation rate would likely inc... Read more
26 Mar 2018
Net loans in February 2018 rose THB67 billion over January to USD11.05 trillion, thus rising 0.61 percent MoM and 4.36 percent YoY. Most increases were seen in large business loans, including working capital and term loans, while retail loan growth was mainly driven by auto financing on new and used... Read more
23 Mar 2018
We at KResearch expect that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will likely keep its policy rate unchanged at 1.50 percent during the second meeting of 2018 scheduled for March 28 to ensure continuing growth in the Thai economy going forward amid a number of external risks, in particular a possible... Read more
26 Feb 2018
The Baht fell slightly against the US Dollar. The Baht briefly rose early in the week as the US dollar tumbled on a weak US New Home Sales report and falling US bond yields. However, the Baht reversed those gains and weakened later on the Fed Chairman’s viewpoint toward US overall economic and... Read more
19 Feb 2018
The Baht weakened against the US Dollar. The Baht fell to mid week amid the US Dollar short-covering ahead of the release of the latest FOMC minutes. The US dollar also gained on the US rate-hike outlook and rising US bond yields. However, the Baht pared some losses somewhat later in the we... Read more
12 Feb 2018
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5 Feb 2018
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4 Jan 2018
泰铢币值从新年开始就升值到接近32.20泰铢兑换1美元的水平，为近3年多来的最高值，与本区域其他币种的走向相一致，同时美元仍未获得明显的支持因素，虽然今年美联储将继续逐渐上调政策利率，不同于泰国政策利率在今年大部分时间内仍将维持1.5%的水平不变。 开泰研究中心认为，泰铢从2018年首几个工作日起就进入升值区间的局势，与资金流入的情况相符，主要因为获利于泰国经济基本面因素强健和看好经济趋向复苏，尤其是经常项目顺差，开泰研究中心预料2018年泰国的经常项目可能连续第三年实现逾400亿美元的顺差。... Read more
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