Thailand's struggle to lure back foreign investors continue as the country's stock market has now been dubbed as the "world's worst-performing." There could be no end in sight for the country's difficulty as its economy continue to slow down.
Thailand's benchmark SET index hasn't picked up this quarter while foreign investors continue to pull their money out of the country. Gordon Fraser, fund manager at BlackRock Inc. in Hong Kong, said analysts have downgraded their estimates for a lot of the companies in the country. He said Thailand BlackRock was not particularly compelled to inject capital in Thailand right now. Pornthep Jubandhu, head of investment research at SCB Asset, expressed a similar opinion, saying foreign investors are choosing not to be involved with Thai equities.
Local investors, on the other hand, believed government spending is the key to lure back foreign investors into the country. Investors may consider putting their money back into the country if they see attractive valuations in the local market.
Meanwhile, Thailand officials were sending mixed signals. Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana said Wednesday officials expect Thailand's GDP to grow in 2020. They are seeing between 2.7 and 3.7% increase by next year.
The Thai government has pumped the local economy with the much-needed stimulus package to push the slowing economy. Offical said all effort is given to achieve recovery by next year. Capitals are injected in the country's grassroots to support farmers and increase property sales.
The finance minister said the country has also been suffering from the impact of the ongoing China-US trade war.
In October, the country was compelled to revise estimates for economic growth for the coming year. Local officials said the revised outlook stems from the uncertainties from the ongoing conflict between China and the U.S. on top of other global economic slowdown and the strength of baht.
Many industries in Thailand are reliant on the U.S. and China. For instance, China is Thailand's biggest market for tourists.
The Chinese tourists have been pumping significant money into its tourism industry. Just recently Krung Thai Bank found that Beijing is set to remain Thailand's biggest tourism market for the next ten years more.
The bank estimated that the number of Chinese tourists will bloat to 23 million, double the number of Chinese tourists in the previous decade. By 2030, as many as 334 million Chinese are projected to fly to Thailand. That translates to a 6.9% increase from 160 million in 2019.
