Thai stocks fall after riot in Egypt

BANGKOK, 31 January 2011 (NNT) – Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij has explained that the Thai stock market is falling in line with others in the Asian region because investors are worrying about the ongoing riot situation in Egypt.

After the Thai stocks had plummeted dramatically on Monday morning, Mr Korn explained that investors are selling stocks to reduce risks.

Despite the slump, the minister voiced his confidence that the Thai economic fundamentals remain strong. He reasoned that the country’s current account was currently more than 10 billion USD in surplus, which was sufficient to cushion impacts from global economic fluctuations.

As for the rising inflation rate following the increasing product prices, Mr Korn responded that the government has been monitoring and taking care of the issue while the Bank of Thailand is doing to ensure the rate moves within the specified frame.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index on Monday morning closed at 967.37 points, down 14.46 points in trade worth 10.54 billion THB.