Briefs:

The economy may not expand

next year, as the closure of

Bangkok's two main airports

hurts tourism and a global

recession trims exports,

Finance Minister Suchart

Thadathamrongvech said yes¬

terday.

The economy may grow

between zero and 1.3 per cent

in 2009, Suchart told reporters.

That would be the worst per¬

formance since 1998.

The Finance Ministry will ask

the Cabinet today to approve

lowering corporate income tax

to 25 per cent from 30 per cent

to help businesses, Suchart

said. - Bloomberg

Inflation falls to 2.2 per cent

Thailand's inflation rate fell by the largest amount in six years due to domestic political turmoil and global recession.

 Inflation slowed to 2.2 per cent in November from 3.9 per cent in October, the Commerce Ministry said on Monday. The drop is the biggest since July 2002, cutting consumer-price gains to the lowest in 14 months. - The Nation

 

Exporters turns

to KL airport

Thai exporters have had to shift

their goods for shipment via KL

International Airport to avoid

the loss from the closure of

Bangkok's two airports.

Bernama news agency said

late last week that cargo opera¬

tors affected by the closure of

the airports were switching to

land transportation to export

their goods to the rest of the

world through facilities in

Penang and KLIA.

 The move came as operators

try to reduce the heavy losses

suffered after the shutdown of

the Suvarnabhumi Airport and

Don Mueang Airport that

caused a huge cargo backlog,

with an estimated Bt10 billion

in losses per day.

 The Board of Investment said

the situation also affected raw-

material supplies, which inter¬

rupts goods production and

may also affect about 200,000

people in related businesses. -

The Nation

Checkpoint open

round-the-clock

To help ease difficulties for

transporting cargo in and out of

the country, the Customs

Department will open the cus¬

toms checkpoint in Songkhla's

Sadao district near the Thai-

Malaysian border round-the-

clock. - The Nation