Category: ARTICLE

2022 Economy analytics of Myanmar

With 2020–2021 so severely disrupted, our team of highly professional and experienced analysts at Thunder X Pay started looking ahead to 2022 and what changes could be on the horizon that could positively impact doing business in Myanmar (Burma). Context While Myanmar responded early and decisively to the COVID-19 pandemic thereby limiting adverse health impacts, evidence from the Myanmar COVID-19 Monitoring Platform shows that impacts on households’ welfare were significant. Border movement restrictions starting in February and a complete lockdown between March and April forced non-essential businesses to cease operations and prevented people from traveling to work. Meanwhile, about 100,000 economic migrants returned from Thailand alone. As a result, in May 2020, about 54 percent of households’ main workers reported not working and about 16 percent of firms had temporarily closed. The easing of restrictions between May and August contributed to a partial rebound of the economy, which is still suffering from the impact of reduced global demand, border trade disruptions, and potential changes in consumer behaviors. Strict stay-at-home orders were introduced in Rakhine State in mid-August, followed by similar orders

Gold price forecast for 2022 and the following situations

The gold market has increased in order to reach its highest level since 2020 on March 8th as investors seek secured assets in response to Russia’s conquering of Ukraine. At the end of 2021, the gold price reached $1,828.60 an ounce and declined by 2.9% for the year, while investors tended to avoid metals in anticipation of higher interest rates. “The war in Ukraine has significant and obvious implications for commodity prices, which could lead to a more persistent inflationary shock. For the time being, direct implications of the conflict as a growth shock are more limited in the US, given that direct trade flows are marginal. But indirect implications are more relevant, as ongoing disruptions to supply chains are likely to have a spillover impact, while inflation is also likely to act as a tax on consumers. In turn, the market continues to price-out a 50bp Fed hike for March, but the implications for the subsequent rate path are less clear.” Our highly professional team persisted that the simple moving average (SMA), together with the exponential moving average (EMA),

Forecasting oil prices according to international benchmark Brent crude by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA)

According to The US Energy Information Administration (EIA), The forecast for the global crude oil price is dramatically raised from the 2022 forecast by around 27%. The EIA regulated the spot price of Brent crude by $22 per barrel to an average of $105.22 per barrel, together with the American benchmark  West Texas Intermediate (WTI) at $101.17 a barrel. Moreover, The higher price of Brent crude forecast was partly related to uncertainties that resulted from the invasion of Russia in Ukraine. Until 2023, the EIA predicts that Brent will decline to $88.98 per barrel, while WTI will fall to $84.98 a barrel. Nonetheless, the EIA cautioned that the price forecast is “highly uncertain,” due to the protracted uncertainties-impact of the Russia and Ukraine situations. Not only will the other oil producers respond to current oil prices, but also the macroeconomic development impact which will be affected by the oil price as well. “Although we reduced Russia’s oil production in our forecast, we still expect that global oil inventories will build at an average rate of 500,000 barrels per day (bpd)

An expert overview of business in Cambodia 2022

With 2020–2021 so severely disrupted, our team of highly professional and experienced analysts at Thunder X Pay started looking ahead to 2022 and what changes could be on the horizon that could positively impact doing business in Cambodia. Our analyist team will update this content as new announcements are made. Feature Photo Credit: Chinese Embassy of Cambodia –  The new Morodok Techo National Stadium.  COVID-19 in Cambodia The Prime Minister said the target was to vaccinate 10 million adults by November 2021, with the goal of vaccinating 2 million adolescents aged 12-17 by the end of 2021 in order to build herd immunity. Phnom Penh ranked as one of the most vaccinated capital cities in the world, with around 99% of adults fully vaccinated in Q3 2021. However, booster shots of Johnson & Johnson and Aztrazenica were rolled out as there were some concerns over the efficacy of Sinopharm and Sinovac in battling the Delta variant towards the end of 2021. By the time Omicron was identified, Cambodia had one of the highest vaccination and booster rates globally and as a

Laos Economic Expert Outlook

In this article, our experienced analytic team would like to share their professional opinion regarding Laos’ economic condition and potential in 2022. GDP growth last year was probably tepid, hit by multiple Covid-19 waves and the ensuing imposition of restrictions, with rising inflation also likely limiting activity by capping consumers’ purchasing power. At the start of the new year, momentum is likely to have remained restrained amid a surge in Covid-19 caseloads and persistently high price pressures, with the currency continuing to weaken. That said, the latest wave of infections has recently begun to abate, allowing the country to slightly loosen restrictions in January and February, boding more positively for activity ahead. In other news, despite much optimism following its opening in December, the China-Laos railway appears unlikely to boost activity early in the year, with local media reporting that Lao exports to China have been held up by tough Chinese border restrictions amid the ongoing Winter Olympics and the country’s zero-Covid policy. Due to the detailed analysis, has been conducted by our analytic team, the economy should gain steam

A market expert’s preview of the Thai Baht in 2022.

As a currency trader with 11 years of practical experience, my team and I specialised in long-range financial market forecasts for corporate and individual clients. We use reliable models for long-term and short-term forecasting of FX rates, interbank interest rates, cryptocurrency, and some other macroeconomic indicators. We are 100% independent from any banks, funds, or other market players. We provide you with original forecasts based on my own unique methodology. Our team of specialists uses mathematical and statistical methods of prediction based on existing historical data. Our team takes into account the following factors with varying degrees of importance: cyclic recurrence, knowing correlation of market indicators, changes in the availability and attractiveness of the instrument for speculators, electronic and algorithmic trading growth, regulatory intervention degree and frequency of significant events over time. The news, for people looking for some relief against a strong baht, is that it’s predicted to get stronger, not weaker, against many of the world’s currencies. Of course, there are many, many things that may affect the predictions during the next three years, but, for now, the

How to stay ahead of seller fraud

Why your marketplace could be at risk from malicious attacks and what we’re doing to combat them. As marketplaces continue to make themselves the epicenter of seller productivity, they’re seeing a simultaneous rise in malicious attacks, prompting the question: how can you maintain global growth while effectively executing fraud prevention? Given that more and more marketplaces are now becoming payment facilitators for their sellers by embedding payments, the level of risk involved has risen exponentially. While intuitive and eminently scalable, it broadens the scope for malicious attacks in several ways that can result in financial and reputational damage for the marketplace. For the purpose of this blog, we will focus on marketplaces and how to prevent these attacks from causing significant damage. It’s worth noting that most of the fraud that plagues marketplaces can occur across any multi-sided business facilitating payments. This is particularly true for seller fraud, which we will spotlight in this blog, and how, in a platform environment, malicious users engage in dangerous activity through the guise of genuine sellers. The risk landscape for marketplace The cruel

Motivation of Payment

4 payment points to plot on your roadmap for growth Break free from your existing thought patterns and explore new avenues for revenue creation. In times like these, it can be difficult to find the headspace to map out your business growth. It’s difficult to know where to start. What you need is a framework. In 2000, three McKinsey consultants published The Alchemy of Growth: Practical Insights for Building the Enduring Enterprise. In it, they present a model that invites business owners to open their minds and break free from existing thought patterns. It’s called The Seven Degrees of Freedom for Growth, and it provides a framework intended to help businesses broaden their horizons. . McKinsey’s Seven Degrees of Freedom for Growth Payments can be one of those unobvious opportunities for growth that can be a real driver of your expansion plans. It can easily be mapped to at least four of the seven degrees shown above. We’ll look at how your payment platform can play a part in planning your growth. Maximizing existing customers Step one in any growth plan is

What is API Banking Services and how it works?

Open banking, with the help of APIs, is considered to be one of the biggest advancements in the banking industry. It has provided businesses and consumers easy access to custom banking services while also ensuring complete safety and enhanced efficiency. Check out this post to find out what banking APIs are and how they work. The modern banking industry is often the first to experiment with and benefit from newer technologies. Meeting the changing needs of consumers and battling competition are two of the biggest reasons why top banks all over the world, especially in the Kingdom of Thailand, now devour the latest technologies faster than ever. Open Banking is one such recent innovation. It involves the use of APIs that have access to the core system of a bank. These APIs can then be used by 3rd parties within their organisation/platform or be offered to consumers for a more personalised banking experience. Let us have a look at what banking APIs are and how they work.   What are API Banking Services? An API or Application Programming Interface, enables a

A GUIDE TO BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION: KNOW WHEN TO CHANGE & HOW

      To remain relevant and profitable, businesses need to respond to market changes by transforming one or more aspects of their business model. Sounds obvious, right? If you sell red widgets and there is an increasing demand for blue widgets, it’s a no-brainer that you need to expand your product range. Surprisingly, however, many companies don’t respond in this way. Instead, they bury their heads in the sand, hoping that the demand for blue widgets will die out and the demand for red widgets will remain steady. This resistance to change will inevitably lead to lower market relevance and profitability. It is seldom just as simple as selling an additional product line, though. One transformation may necessitate the alignment of several areas: technology, management, and culture are all interdependent and necessary components of a successful business transformation.   Transformation vs. Evolution While the common term is “business transformation”, what we actually mean is “evolution”. Transformation is a marked change in form or appearance, whereas evolution is growth and advancement (as seen in our blue widget example above). And