SMEs face huge risks

 While in Khon Kaen to kick off the bank's "K SME loan" programme, Pakorn said that while investors were spooked by the two incidents, they are also suffering from high inflation, though the rate has eased from peak 9 per cent to 6 per cent in August. Meanwhile, oil prices remains high and SMEs' access to funding would be narrower.

 "Political chaos would also affect tourism. If the situation is not normalised soon, it would affect the tourism industry which is now in the high season period," he said.

 Due to the subprime crisis which has spilled over to Europe, he urged exporters to depend more on other markets and buy foreign exchange rate swaps to hedge against forex risks.

  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned on Tuesday that US financial sector losses could total US$1.4 trillion as the housing crisis at the centre of the turmoil has yet to reach its peak.

 The IMF, in its annual financial stability report, also called for more government intervention and a coordinated international response to a crisis that has threatened to plunge the US and European economies into a severe recession.