6 Jan 2020
International Economy
The US-Iran tensions have ramped up after General Qasem Soleimani, the Iran’s top commander, was killed in Baghdad on January 3, 2020, shooting up the international benchmark Brent crude on January 6, 2020 by 7 percent as compared to the level registered at the end of 2019. This conflict is being closely monitored and unlikely to end soon. The extent of the impact on Thailand will depend on the level of oil price, and how long it will stay at such a high level. Based on our preliminary projections, if the Dubai crude oil price stays at USD80 per barrel for six months, it will affect Thailand’s inflation by 0.75 percentage points from the base case, pushing the headline inflation to 1.15-1.65 percent and cutting the country’s GDP by 0.08 percent. ... Read more
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16 Sep 2019
Drone attacks on Saudi Arabia’s two major oil refineries on Saturday, September 14, 2019 have driven up Brent crude oil price in the futures market by almost 12 percent. The incident has sparked fears among investors worldwide over oil supply disruption because Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest oil producing country and the damage to its refineries have trimmed its oil production capacity by 5.7 million barrels/day or 58.2 percent of its total crude oil production capacity and 5.7 percent of the world’s total crude oil production capacity. KResearch’s assessment on such an impact on the Thai economy is based on two scenarios, as follows:... Read more
7 Aug 2019
The People's Bank of China allowed its currency to fall below 7 Yuan to the US Dollar for the first time in 11 years after the US announced last week that it would slap a 10 percent tariff on USD300 billion of Chinese goods. The latest move by Beijing signals its readiness to retaliate against the US by allowing the Yuan currency to depreciate. China may use additional currency depreciation measures as a retaliatory action, and to ease the negative impact of tariffs on the Chinese economy. KResearch views that the Chinese authorities are unlikely to let the Yuan currency significantly weaken, because a drastic change in currency value could adversely affect China’s financial stability and shake investor confidence. ... Read more
15 Aug 2018
In 2018, the Turkish economy is facing pressures from all sides amid risks threatening its economic stability such as the Federal Reserve interest rate hike, which accelerates fund outflows and continuously and quickly increases borrowing costs. An increasing oil price and weaker Turkish lira have caused Turkish inflation to surge. This latest crisis was triggered by intensified political tensions between the US and Turkey. Due to an anticipation of Washington’s harsh trade protective measures against Istanbul, investors have seemed to lose confidence in the Turkish economy, triggering the currency freefall.... Read more
23 Mar 2018
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive memorandum to slap tariffs worth USD60 billion on Chinese exports, reasoning that China has infringed on US intellectual property per Section 301 Anchorof the 1974 Trade Act. Although this round of trade measures is the most serious so far against foreign goods since the present US administration began its trade protection initiatives, the impact on Chinese exports is forecast to be limited, perhaps accounting for only 11 percent of their total exports to the US, currently valued overall at USD505 billion.... Read more