Showing 1 - 7 of 7
Some shock therapy or slow healing?
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 02/04/2026
» Do readers prefer shock therapy or slow healing? This is not a health question, but an important economic one.
Spectre of 2023 global recession looms
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 19/05/2022
» In economics, there is no such thing as a surprise. Major economic events like rising inflation, interest rate hikes, currency depreciation, even economic recession can be detected as far as a year ahead.
A long road to recovery for Thailand
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 10/06/2021
» The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) in last December's forecast raised its global GDP growth forecast for 2021 from 4.2% to 5.8% as of May 2021, primarily due to the achievement of Covid-19 vaccine rollout in developed nations. The GDP growth rate for the US is estimated to be as high as 6.9% this year -- an admirable rise from a contraction of 3.5% last year. The US is not the only economy that benefits from a quick vaccine rollout. The UK economy is projected to grow at an even higher rate of 7.5% in 2021 as more than 40% of its population has been fully vaccinated and about 60% of its population received at least one dose.
Lessons from the 1997 economic crisis
Oped, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 01/04/2021
» Today is April Fools' day. But there is no fooling about the threat of liquidity crisis. I am sure that many readers are sceptical about the possibility of a liquidity crunch in this country. First, the government debt to GDP ratio is less than 60% which is not high by international standards. Second, Thailand now, unlike in 1997, has adopted a flexible exchange rate system which has a low risk of currency speculation. And, third, the country has international reserves equivalent to 11 months of imports of goods and services which is two times higher than IMF's suggested requirement. How could an economy this good be at risk?
Thai economy unlikely to bounce back
News, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 18/03/2021
» The world is having great economic news. All international economic agencies have upgraded world economic forecasts for 2021. The latest one is the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) who raises global economic growth forecast from 4.2% (December 2020's forecast) to 5.6% (March 2021's forecast). A higher growth prospect is the result of a fast roll-out of Covid-19 vaccination; super-large US economic stimulus package; and accelerated growth of the Chinese economy. The OECD projected that the US economy would grow by 6.5% while the Chinese economy would expand by 7.8% this year. These two giant economies account for 41% of the world economy. Therefore, high growth from these two countries is likely to induce high economic growth in other economies as well.
Govt has shallow pockets for virus fight
News, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 26/03/2020
» There is no need to say that the impact from Covid-19 has been brutal to all economies. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has just warned the world economy is most likely to enter recession in 2020 with negative economic growth. On Jan 9, the IMF released its World Economic Outlook report projecting that global economic growth would be a positive 3.3%.
Coronavirus economic blow will be long-lasting
News, Chartchai Parasuk, Published on 13/02/2020
» Even though the coronavirus outbreak isn't over yet, economists are already counting the damage. Research houses estimate that China's gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter of this year could be less than 4% -- a sharp drop from the usual 6%-plus growth rate. Of course, the economic impact won't be limited to China, as its GDP represents more than 20% of the world economy.