Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin asked the central bank to urgently hold an unscheduled meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee to cut interest rate, saying the latest data indicated that the nation’s economy was in a crisis, Bloomberg News reported. “I would like to implore the MPC to urgently call a committee meeting to consider reducing interest without waiting for a scheduled meeting,” Srettha posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, late on Monday.

Thailand’s government raised its new borrowing target by 560 billion baht ($15.7 billion) for the current fiscal year to finance budget deficit and new projects, Bloomberg News reported. Under a revised public debt management plan approved by the cabinet on Tuesday, new borrowing for government, state enterprises and other agencies will increase to 754.7 billion baht from 194.4 billion baht cleared by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s government soon after it took power in September, according to an official statement.

Thailand's central bank chief, under fire from the prime minister for not cutting rates, said slower-than-expected economic growth was not a crisis as portrayed by the government, nor would it be revived by its quick-hit stimulus measures, Reuters reported. The Bank of Thailand's current policy rate is broadly neutral, Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput told Reuters on Tuesday ahead of the central bank's next rate meeting on Feb. 7, adding that the country was not facing a deflationary situation.

Major Japanese auto manufacturers will invest 150 billion baht ($4.34 billion) in Thailand over the next five years, a Thai government spokesperson said on Monday, supporting the Southeast Asian country's transition to making electric vehicles, Reuters reported. Toyota Motor and Honda Motor will invest about 50 billion baht each, while Isuzu Motors will invest 30 billion baht and Mitsubishi Motors 20 billion baht, spokesperson Chai Wacharoke said, adding this would include the production of electric pickup trucks. Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin concluded a trip to Japan last week.

Binance Holdings Ltd.’s attempt to turn the page on costly regulatory violations faces a test in Thailand, where the world’s largest crypto exchange will soon start a new trading venue with one of Asia’s richest men, Bloomberg News reported. The venture with Sarath Ratanavadi’s Gulf Energy Development Pcl recently received the required licenses, but Binance’s guilty plea last week and $4.3 billion in penalties for US anti-money laundering and sanctions contraventions have cast a shadow over the planned domestic digital-asset platform.

Thailand’s Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin defended a controversial plan to borrow billions of dollars to fund a cash handout program, saying Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy is in a crisis and needed a stimulus to end a cycle of low single-digit growth, Bloomberg News reported. Srettha’s administration last week unveiled plans to distribute 10,000 baht ($277) each to about 50 million Thais as a one-time measure to stimulate consumption and spur business activities.

JKN Global Group Pcl, a Thai media company that owns the Miss Universe beauty-pageant brand, has petitioned for debt rehabilitation as it seeks to solve a liquidity crunch, Bloomberg News reported. JKN submitted the business rehabilitation request with Thailand’s Central Bankruptcy Court on Wednesday, it said in an exchange filing. The company petitioned to adjust interest rates on existing debt and extend its debt repayment period, and proposed itself as a planner for the process.

Thailand's second-biggest lender Kasikornbank is in talks to buy consumer finance provider Home Credit Vietnam in a deal of up to $1 billion that would further its push to expand in Vietnam, Reuters reported. The Bangkok-based lender, also called KBank, hopes to become one of Vietnam's top 20 banks in terms of assets by 2027. It has total assets worth $119.7 billion, second only to Bangkok Bank in Thailand, Refinitiv data showed.

Thailand's cabinet on Tuesday agreed to waive corporate income tax and value-added tax for companies that issue digital tokens for investment, a government spokeswoman said, Reuters reported. Companies will have access to alternative ways of raising capital through investment tokens in addition to traditional methods like debentures, Rachada Dhnadirek told reporters at a news conference.