Kaohoon Morning Brief – 22 September 2021
Morning brief of major stories since the closing of Thai stock market on 22 September 2021.
1) SCB joins ADVANC to offer digital financial services and spin off leasing business
AIS and Siam Commercial Bank have reached an agreement on signing a joint venture deal to embark upon establishing AISCB to offer digital financial services such as loans, before expanding to other financial services. According to “Kaohoon Turakij,” SCB is expecting to spin off its leasing business worth 200 billion baht by next year.
2) U.S. crude stockpile falls 6.1 million barrels
U.S. crude stockpiles decreased by 6.1 million barrels for the previous week, much lower than what economists had expected of about 2.4 million barrels. The production is recovering slowly from the disruption of Hurricane Ida as a fifth of crude production is still reportedly offline in the U.S. Gulf Mexico.
3) Democrat passes debt ceiling bill to Republican
The U.S. Democrat will combine spending and debt measures in one bill, which was cleared by the Democratic-controlled House and will be proposed to the Senate, run by Republicans. Both parties are standing off on raising the debt ceiling or facing a default in October.
4) U.S. current account deficit expands to 14-year high in 2Q
The U.S. Commerce Department reported the current account deficit rose 0.5% to $190.3 billion in 2Q21, which was the largest shortfall since the second quarter of 2007. The current account deficit measures the flow of goods, services and investments into and out of the country.