Thailand

Thailand's economy may shrink 3.7 percent this quarter following the worst flooding in almost 70 years, the government said, adding to the case for an interest- rate cut as early as next week, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Gross domestic product rose 3.5 percent in the three months through September from a year earlier, after climbing a revised 2.7 percent in the previous quarter, the National Economic and Social Development Board said in Bangkok today. It also forecast the contraction and lowered its estimate for 2011 growth to 1.5 percent, from as much as 4 percent earlier.

The United Arab Emirates central bank on Sunday said that it stood behind domestic and foreign banks operating in Dubai after last week’s announcement that Dubai World needed more time to pay back some of its $60 billion in debt, The New York Times reported. Dubai surprised the financial world on Wednesday when it said it would ask creditors of Dubai World, the conglomerate behind its rapid expansion, to agree to a six-month standstill on the debt. Global markets sank on the news.

General Motors Corp. reiterated Tuesday its operations in Thailand and Southeast Asia are unaffected by the bankruptcy filing in the U.S., Dow Jones Newswires reported. "GM Asia-Pacific, including GM Thailand and Asean, will be an important part of the New GM and will maintain normal business operations," Steve Carlisle, president of General Motors' Southeast Asia operations, told reporters. Read more. (Subscription required.)

Myanmar's financial system and economy are largely cut off from the outside world -- but not the global economic crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported. As the country's military junta wraps up its trial of dissident Aung San Suu Kyi, conditions in the capital and rural areas illustrate the effects of the slowdown on this isolated nation's already-tenuous economy. Key sectors such as agriculture and tourism are reeling, and business in the commercial center of Yangon has dwindled, residents and economists say.

General Motors Corp. said Wednesday its operations in Thailand and Southeast Asia are unaffected by its ongoing restructuring, Dow Jones Newswires reported. "Operations in Thailand and the ASEAN region will remain unaffected by GM Corp.'s situation in the U.S., even in the event GM Corp. files for Chapter 11. This is because GM Thailand, including Chevrolet Sales Thailand, and other operations in ASEAN are locally-incorporated entities which accords them the ability to operate independently from its parent company in the US," General Motors said in a statement.

General Motors Co. is trying to line up $6 billion in financial support from five governments in addition to the U.S. federal aid outlined in its restructuring plan late Tuesday, Dow Jones Newswires reported. The U.S. automaker said it is in talks with authorities in Germany, the U.K., Sweden, Canada and Thailand to secure the aid by March 31, in line with a U.S. government deadline for continuing and extending support to keep the company out of bankruptcy protection.

TPI Polene Pcl, Thailand’s third-biggest cement maker, climbed the most in one month in Bangkok trading after a court allowed the company to exit receivership. The Bangkok-based company rose 7.7 percent to 3.34 baht at the close, its biggest gain since Dec. 19. The stock has advanced 5.7 percent this year compared with a 3.7 percent decline in the benchmark SET Index. The Central Bankruptcy Court issued an order to terminate the court-supervised rehabilitation proceedings, the company said in a filing to the stock exchange today.