Banking
Southeast Asia launches $1 billion facility for green infrastructure
CHIANG RAI, Thailand (Reuters) – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and major financiers on Thursday launched a facility to spur more than $1 billion in green infrastructure investments across Southeast Asia.
The facility offers loans and technical assistance for sovereign projects in areas such as sustainable transport and clean energy, the ADB said during the meetings of ASEAN’s finance ministers and central bank governors.
“Through the ASEAN Catalytic Green Finance Facility, ADB will support ASEAN governments in developing green and climate-friendly infrastructure projects,” ADB President Takehiko Nakao said in a statement.
It will mobilise a total of $1 billion, including $75 million from the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund (AIF), $300 million from the ADB, $336 million from KfW, 150 million euros from the European Investment Bank, and 1 million euros from Agence Francaise de Development.
It is part of a new “Green and Inclusive Infrastructure Window” under the AlF, a regional financing initiative established by ASEAN governments and the ADB in 2011.
Since then, the AlF has committed $520 million for regional energy, transport, water and urban infrastructure projects.
ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Banking
SCB cuts thai growth forecast to 3.6%
The SCB’s Economic Intelligence Center (EIC) has reduced its growth projection for the Thai economy this year to 3.6%
The SCB’s Economic Intelligence Center (EIC) has reduced its growth projection for the Thai economy this year to 3.6% from a previous expectation of 3.8%.
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Bank of Thailand feels “no pressure” to change policy rate
The governor of the Bank of Thailand downplayed risks to the economy from the country’s disputed recent election
BANGKOK (Reuters) – The governor of the Bank of Thailand on Monday downplayed risks to the economy from the country’s disputed recent election and asserted the central bank can afford to take a wait-and-see stance on monetary policy.
(more…)Banking
Thailand holds key rate steady at 1.75%
The BoT Committee voted unanimously to maintain the policy rate at 1.75 percent
The Committee voted unanimously to maintain the policy rate at 1.75 percent assessing that the Thai economy would expand around its potential despite at a slower pace than previously assessed due to a slowdown in external demand.
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