Thailand may increase access for foreign banks to boost competition in financial services and the government will ask the market regulator how rules can be eased.
The government has “struggled” to achieve “proper competition” in the banking sector, depriving consumers of quality services and reasonable prices, Thai Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij told the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand and the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington via a video link late on Tuesday.
“The obvious question to ask at this time is how could we possibly enhance the role of the international banking community in order to create a more competitive environment here in the banking sector,” Korn said. “Competition will be enhanced faster as a result of increased involvement of the international banking community.”
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has called for greater foreign involvement in Thailand’s economy, which the government forecasts may grow no more than 2 percent this year as exports and investment decline.
Foreign ownership of Thai banks is capped at 49 percent and domestic bank lending this year may expand by less than half of last year’s pace.
Thailand’s central bank regulates banking in Southeast Asia’s largest economy and would have to change its rules to allow foreign banks greater access.
The country’s banks are seeking a 54 billion baht (US$1.54 billion) state aid package designed to help them restart lending to businesses and lift the economy out of a probable recession.
Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada’s No. 3 bank by assets, yesterday said it doubled its stake to 49 percent in Thanachart Bank, Thailand’s biggest auto finance company. The Netherlands’ ING Groep NV has a 26 percent stake in TMB Bank Pcl and Malaysia’s Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Bhd has a 42 percent share in BankThai Pcl.
The Thai Finance Ministry gave Bumiputra-Commerce approval in October to lift its stake in BankThai above the 49 percent foreign ownership limit.
Operations of foreign banks in Thailand, including Citigroup Inc and HSBC Holdings Plc, are limited by central bank regulations.
The country’s commercial banks have stopped short of fully passing on Bank of Thailand rate cuts, lowering loan and deposit rates by as much as 1 percentage point.
Lending this year could expand by less than half the 13 percent pace posted last year by Bangkok Bank Pcl, the country’s largest, the Thai Bankers’ Association said.
The Bank of Thailand has said it may continue easing monetary policy after cutting its benchmark interest rate to 2 percent in two reductions totaling 1.75 percentage points since Dec. 3.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said second-quarter revenue is expected to surpass the first quarter, which rose 30 percent year-on-year to NT$118.92 billion (US$3.71 billion). Revenue this quarter is likely to grow, as US clients have front-loaded orders ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on Taiwanese goods, Delta chairman Ping Cheng (鄭平) said at an earnings conference in Taipei, referring to the 90-day pause in tariff implementation Trump announced on April 9. While situations in the third and fourth quarters remain unclear, “We will not halt our long-term deployments and do not plan to
RSS