Recent decades have seen a downward convergence in corporate tax regimes as advanced, emerging and developing economies moved to grab a bigger slice of the global investment pie. Headline corporate tax rates have fallen by 20 percentage points since the early 1980s. Alongside lower average rates, special tax incentives aimed at capturing investment...
The 1997-98 Asian financial crisis saw many leading South-east Asian economies collapse as a result of high levels of foreign debt and rapid capital outflows following a US Federal Reserve interest rate hike. Thailand was among one of the hardest hit, with negative GDP growth of 7.6% at the height of the crisis, pushing many Thai people below...
The banking sector experienced mixed results in 2017. Although bank loans and asset quality benefitted from the country’s ongoing economic recovery, with operating profits rising as a result, high provisioning costs and preparations for the new accounting standards that take effect in 2020 saw net profits decline for many larger commercial...
The baht was one of the best-performing currencies in South-east Asia in 2017, making significant gains against the US dollar as macroeconomic recovery continued and foreign investment surged. A strong baht is a double-edged sword for trade and investment stakeholders, however, as some predict that Thai exporters will be negatively impacted in...
Following the death of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej in October 2016, a major chapter in the history of the kingdom closed and another opened. With His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun now on the throne, the way ahead promises to be one of further development, with an active monarch as head of state. Meanwhile,...
Household consumption in Thailand has been constrained by an ageing population and rising consumer debt, and a string of failed stimulus packages launched in the early 2010s led to a sharp increase in the number of distressed and non-performing loans (NPLs) in the consumer segment, exacerbating already challenging circumstances. However, the tide is...
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