Thailand's yen debt to be totally repaid to Japan
By Digital Media



BANGKOK, Apr 15 – Thailand's Finance Ministry is cashing in on the strengthening Thai currency to pay the nation’s public debts at Y60 billion (Bt20 billion or US$690 million) to Japan, a senior Thai official said today.

Chularat Suthithorn, director general of the Public Debt Management Office (PDMO), said the ministry acts guarantor for the loans granted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to state enterprises in Thailand.

JICA has agreed to an earlier repayment without surcharge, she said, adding that the loans will be totally paid within this fiscal year, ending Sept 30.

Thailand’s foreign loans having an impact on the baht are mainly in Japanese yen, she said.

Ms Churarat added that the government will resort to cross currency swap in repayment of loans in other currencies to avoid a risk on currency exchange.

She said the PDMO has worked on a debt payment plan for the next budget year to help soften the strength of Thai baht, but at a minimal degree. Thailand's public debt is Bt5 trillion. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2013-04-15

Wow cool, a Thai loan that is getting repaid, I wish all of mine could be repaid too!!!

I feel left out!

So a strong currency does have some uses.

Sometimes paying off a debt in full is not the smartest thing....

Thailand's yen debt to be totally repaid to Japan

Something wrong, I couldn't find the "in rice" fine print.

Not only is the baht strong, but the Japanese yen has plunged about 20% against the US$ in recent months, so this is doubly advantageous to Thailand to pay off the debt right now. Kudos to them for taking decisive action & actually doing it.

Sometimes paying off a debt in full is not the smartest thing....

Are you talking from personal experience or from a historical perspective?

North Korea defaulted on their foreign debt in 1987, Russia in 1998 and Argentina in 2002.

good news, in a few months baht will go down a bit

Sometimes paying off a debt in full is not the smartest thing....

Are you talking from personal experience or from a historical perspective?

North Korea defaulted on their foreign debt in 1987, Russia in 1998 and Argentina in 2002.

Russia did default in 1998 on consolidated foreign Soviet Union debt but investors recovered all losses 15 months later. Russian bonds issued by the the "Russian Federation" (the nowadays Russia) were were always serviced "on the dot".

Argentina defaulted in 2002 (announced end of 2001) only 12 years after totally restructuring its foreign debt based on a former default. biggest default in history!

Paying it off next year instead might be an even better deal. But its still a good move.

Is Thailand actually showing signs of fiscal responsibility and yet then trying to throw it all to the wind with a 2 trillion loan over 50 years? Does not compute Einstein.... Some g.o.o.d. advice = Get Out Of Debt because when the fiat currency finally tanks - which it must - paper bank currency will not be worth anything other than bum fodder. To take on loans in this futuristic unavoidable demise is insanity based on fantasy projects and personified guesswork tagged by the spin doctors as 'investing' rather than spending irresponsibly on projected (if any) future profit.

Is Thailand actually showing signs of fiscal responsibility and yet then trying to throw it all to the wind with a 2 trillion loan over 50 years? Does not compute Einstein.... Some g.o.o.d. advice = Get Out Of Debt because when the fiat currency finally tanks - which it must - paper bank currency will not be worth anything other than bum fodder. To take on loans in this futuristic unavoidable demise is insanity based on fantasy projects and personified guesswork tagged by the spin doctors as 'investing' rather than spending irresponsibly on projected (if any) future profit.

If the fiat total collapse is coming then surely best to take loans and buy real physical assets. Then when the Currency is worth like bum wipes it can be paid back with a few golden coins