Thailand unaffected by yuan’s fall

BANGKOK, August 16 (TNA) - In an attempt to calm fears among businessmen, Industry Minister Chakramon Phasukvanich has said Thailand would not be affected much from last week’s decision by China to devalue its currency, the yuan, against the greenback. Chakramon said Thailand’s exports would not be impacted much because the baht had weakened to its low at 35 baht against the dollar and could further dip to 36 baht in line with other ASEAN currencies. He explained that although the country’s gross domestic product figure had stood in the positive zone, it was still less than before, therefore, the baht depreciated slightly. In another development, Nantawan Sakuntanak, director-general of Commerce Ministry’s International Trade Promotion Department, shared her view that a decision by the Pacific Alliance members allowing Thailand to become an observer would benefit the kingdom because the grouping was expanding trade activities to Asia and the Pacific. Nantawan said Thailand’s ongoing political problems would not pose an obstacle to the Pacific Alliance group whose members include Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, which had a combined population of 212 million and their economies added up to 2 trillion US dollars, making the economy size of the grouping the sixth largest in the world. Nantawan said in 2016, Thailand also had an opportunity to push cooperation further between ASEAN and the Pacific Alliance when it would become the main trade coordinator for Southeast Asia with the Alliance. (TNA)