Thailand to take measures to revitalise stock index

Thailand’s Finance Ministry and stock market regulators on Tuesday announced measures to revitalise the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index.

However, they played down a request from stock analysts to revive the tax-incentive long-term equity funds (LTFs).

Pornanong Budsaratragoon, secretary-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said that stock market regulators will propose to the cabinet to revise investment conditions of Thai environment, society and governance (TESG) funds to support the stock market.

Under the proposal, the tax deduction cap will be raised from 100,000 THB ($2,700) to 300,000 THB, and the holding period shortened from eight years to five years, she said.

Pornanong said the SEC wants to see more savings, which eventually leads to financial wellbeing, which is the main goal of the capital markets.

Thai Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira said the measures will be proposed to the cabinet within two weeks.

The announcement came as the SET was trading at a four-year low, with the index plunging below the 1,300-point range last week due to political uncertainties in Thailand.

Investors have net sold more than 100 billion THB worth of Thai shares from the beginning of this year, compared to the 192 billion THB worth of net sales in 2023, according to Pi Securities.

Although the SET index has rebounded, rising 0.79% to finish at 1,316 points on Tuesday, foreign investors remained net sellers of around 1.09 billion THB.