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Ministry to propose an investment stimulus plan
The Finance Ministry expects to propose to the Cabinet a short-term stimulus for investment soon, saying it would motivate investment without touching corporate income-tax rates.
Somchai Sujjapongse, permanent secretary of the ministry, said the short-term stimulus measures were expected to be forwarded to the Cabinet soon.
The stimulus, which is expected to encourage investors to make faster decisions for only a certain period, will be similar to the Board of Investment’s privileges.
“The planned measures will involve tax and relaxation of rules to promote investment,” Somchai said. However, the corporate income-tax rates will not be adjusted, as they are at appropriate levels at present.
He said the measures would not affect government revenue. Once investment is made, income and purchasing power will follow. The ministry also expressed confidence in its estimate that gross domestic product would grow by 2.8 per cent this year, while indicating that all engines would be ready to drive the economy next year.
KBank's 9-month results
Kasikornbank yesterday announced that it earned net profit of Bt33.9 billion in the first nine months of 2015.
KBank president Predee Daochai said this represented a decrease by Bt2.19 billion or 6.05 per cent from the same period of 2014. The decrease was due to higher allowances for impairment losses on loans, amounting to Bt7.19 billion in this period.
However, net interest income increased by Bt1.82 billion or 2.97 per cent. Net interest margin (NIM) stood at 3.66 per cent, a decrease from the same period of 2014. This is consistent with the direction of interest-rate reductions.
Non-interest income also increased by Bt6.39 billion or 15.38 per cent because of an increase in net fees and service income and revenue from money-market and capital-market products. Moreover, the efficiency ratio in this period stood at 42.12 per cent.
For the third quarter, KBank and its subsidiaries reported net profit of Bt10.1 billion, a decrease of Bt1.36 billion or 11.86 per cent from the previous quarter.
This was because KBank set aside higher allowances for impairment loss on loans amounting to Bt1.47 billion in this period while non-interest income decreased by Bt586 million or 3.52 per cent.
NIM for the quarter stood at 3.57 per cent. Other operating expenses decreased and the efficiency ratio in this quarter stood at 41.62 per cent.
