Thai bond listings to be fee-free until end-2007
The grace period during which bond listing fees (including the application, entrance and annual fees), plus the trading fee of 0.05% are waived will be extended for another year, until end-2007, Mr. Santi Kiranand Ph.D., CEO of the BEX, said. “The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET)’s Board considers that extending the fee-free period will lessen the financial burden on state and private bond-issuing agencies. The Exchange’s decision will benefit the country and promote the growth of the bond market,” Dr.
Santi added. The fee-free extension is part of a strategy to increase the number of state and private bonds, as per the 2nd Thai Capital Market Development Plan (2006-2010), which envisages the Thai bond market expanding from 46% of GDP, about THB 3.6 trillion (approx. USD 95,700 million) to 80% of GDP, about THB 6 trillion (approx. USD 159,700 million) over five years. BEX began operations on November 26, 2003, and has waived listing and trading fees for three years. On August 31, 2006, there were 581 issues of state and private bonds trading in the market, with a total value of THB 2.984 trillion (approx. USD 79,335 million) as detailed below:
Type
No. of Issues
Outstanding Value (unit: THB Million)
State bonds Treasury bills 43
255,000.00
Government bonds 31
1,006,976.00
Savings bonds 5
95,187.90
State-enterprise bonds 379
523,994.66
State-agency bonds 42
785,092.00
Sub-total 500
2,666,250.56
Private bonds 80
312,686.04
Unit trusts 1
5,632.32
Total 581
2,984,568.92
For more information, please contact the Corporate Communications Dept.:
Ladawan Kantawong Tel: 0-2229-2036 / Kulvida Jintakawong Tel: 0-2229-2037 /