Banking and financial services
Banking and financial services policy and regulation
Govt warned to manage growing debt
Economists have warned the government needs a long-term strategy for managing its burgeoning debt against obligations while it works on securing more efficient and additional revenue sources. At the moment, Laos requires 1,559 billion kip to meet its budget expenditure following revenue shortfall in the ...
CIMBT sets sights on guiding Bt30 bn debentures
CIMB Thai Bank (CIMBT) is stepping up its push into financial advisory services and expects its corporate clients to issue debentures of up to Bt30 billion this year. The bank is also targeting bank assurance business and aims to |generate first-year premium growth of 15 ...
Meeting discusses anti-corruption efforts
The Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption convened a meeting in Hà Nội on April 17 chaired by Party General Secretary Nguyễn Phú Trọng, head of the committee. Members discussed the progress, results, difficulties and obstacles regarding the investigation, prosecution and trial of cases under the supervision of ...
Public debt up 0.5% in February
Thailand’s public debt outstanding as of February 28 was Bt6.09 trillion, up Bt30.58 billion or 0.5 per cent from January 31, while the Japan Credit Rating Agency has maintained Thailand’s credit-rating ceiling at “A+” with “stable” outlook, the Finance Ministry’s Public Debt Management Office reported on ...
MFIs predict lower earnings
With the interest rate cap of 18 percent in full force for all new and restructured microfinance loans after the National Bank of Cambodia issued a populist measure to curb high interest rates, microfinance institutions are starting to give predictions for lower profits this year ...
Cambodia’s microfinance shakeup: in whose interest?
On the river island of Koh Srolav in southern Cambodia, everything changed for the 300 or so families inhabiting the small fishing village about ten years ago, when the sand dredging barges arrived. Operating in the dark of night, they have plundered the Tatai river with ...
Capital markets essential for private sector: IFC
International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Myanmar (SECM) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in March to strengthen corporate governance regulatory standards and practices in Myanmar. In its press statement, the IFC said ...
Lessons from the 1997 Asian financial crisis
The Asian financial crisis in 1997 plunged many ASEAN countries into recession. The crisis dragged down the Indonesian rupiah, the Thai baht, the Malaysian ringgit and other currencies. Even the Hong Kong dollar came under enormous pressure, though the city managed to prevent a devaluation because ...
Betel farmers reap healthy profits this season
According to betel farmers from Shwegu Tesu village in Sagaing Region’s Khin-U township, this season’s prices are helping them reap healthy profits. “We were making profits because prices were good since the start of this season. So farmers didn’t face losses this year compared to ...
Monetary tightening emerges as risk to Chinese economy
China economists increasingly see tighter monetary policy by the People’s Bank of China as a downside risk, voicing concerns that efforts to curb capital outflows and a real estate bubble will weigh on the economy. Tighter monetary policy has surged to second place on a ...
