Fighting the pandemic and keeping the ailing economy going have been almost insurmountable tasks for Thailand this year. The Bank of Thailand has forecast a GDP contraction of 7.8% in 2020, crucially weighed down by the outbreak.
After wading through the first lockdown and fending off new local infections for months, a sudden spike in new infections this week is expected to drag businesses back towards the circling the drain, where many are likely to be gutted by the outbreak, and a lucky handful will manage to reap windfalls. Read more…..
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The World Economic Forum has just published its annual Report on Regional Risks for Doing Business. Not surprisingly the coronavirus pandemic has left its mark. Based on a survey of over 12,000 business leaders from 127 countries the report has unemployment top of the list, just like previous reports, like the one from the International Labour Organization, massive job losses due to the pandemic are expected to negatively impact business for the next 10 years.