Briefs

Foreign capital is tending to flow back into the bourse, drawn by listed companies’ sound fundamentals and profitability amid the country’s political unrest, whose impact on confidence is expected to be short-lived.

“Foreigners have been net buyers of stocks worth Bt15 billion per month since March due to confidence in Thai listed companies and higher returns than those in other regional stock markets,” SET chairman Sathit Limpongpan said at the SET-Thai Corporate Day yesterday.

Investment was expected to improve after the recent appointment of a new Board of Investment. The first BoI meeting last Thursday agreed to accelerate consideration of investment applications worth Bt500 billion-Bt600 billion.

Vouchers for digital tv set-top boxes to be given in july

The board of the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Research Development Fund for Public Interest concluded yesterday that the vouchers to be given away to households nationwide to buy digital TV set-top boxes would be distributed in July.

However, it has still not yet set the voucher’s value.

Takorn Tantasith, secretary-general of the fund, said the board has assigned three committees to study box prices and recommend the final value to the fund this month.

The fund will consider the final value and submit it to the NBTC for approval this month.

‘NOW’ channel to air

‘biz raider’ on holidays

NOW, a digital TV channel operated by Nation Multimedia Group, will air a business variety programme called “Biz Rider” only on special holidays.

The first showing is slated for Visakha Bucha Day on May 13 from 10.30am-11am.

Bt300m fund

proposed for smes

Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation plans to propose that the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion establish a Bt300-million fund to pay for loan guarantee fees for SMEs in the first year.

Local SMEs have been walloped by the prolonged domestic economic slowdown, Vallobh Tejapaibul, general manager of the state-owned specialised financial institution under the Finance Ministry’s supervision and the Bank of Thailand, said yesterday.

The Bt300 million can help cover the 1.75-per-cent per year loan guarantee fee for SME loans of up to Bt20 billion. This would help alleviate the financial burden on SMEs that are suffering from falling orders.

TCG will have to revise down this year’s loan-guarantee target from Bt100 billion to Bt57 billion since the initial economic growth projection of 4.5-4.8 per cent was revised down to only 2.6 per cent by the Fiscal Policy Office.