BANGKOK, 20 June 2012 – A leading research agency is warning Thailand to watch out for possible impacts from the crisis in Greece.
Kasikorn Research Center (KRC) Managing Director Charl Kengchon said on Tuesday that even though the latest elections in Greece turned out well and could keep the country in the Euro zone while playing down worries in the global financial market, the future is not quite certain yet.
Mr. Charl said that what Greece has introduced have been only the short-term ones that cannot solve every problem once and for all.
With many more years for Greece to sort its problems out, Thai entrepreneurs, who are to reply on the European market, are now urged to speedily broaden other markets to make up for the possible shrinkage in Europe’s imports.
He stated that the problems in Europe have shrunken the value of Thai goods and services shipped there by 15 percent during the first 4 months of this year.
The KRC Managing Director believes that unless crisis in Europe resolves soon, Thai exports to this market will likely register a minus-5 percent growth.
However, when compared with other Southeast Asian nations, KRC said that Thailand is at moderate risk when it comes to the fallout from Europe.
Mr. Charl went on to say that the Bank of Thailand should continue to keep its policy interest rate at 3 percent due to the Euro-zone debt crisis and the global economic uncertainty as well as the post-flood recovery in Thailand during the 2nd and the 3rd quarters of this year.
