30/04/2026

BIZ & FINANCE THURSDAY | APR 30, 2026

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The Bank of Thailand’s monetary policy committee voted unanimously to maintain the one-day repurchase rate at 1.00%, the lowest level in more than three years. It had cut the rate at its previous meeting in February. “Thailand’s economic expansion is projected to moderate, as the war in the Middle East has a direct impact on growth by increasing business costs and eroding household purchasing power,“ the central bank said in a statement after the meeting. “Inflation is set to accelerate through 2026, and is expected to moderate in 2027 as supply-side pressures subside.” The BOT said it expected economic growth of 1.5% this year, down from a projection of 1.9% made in February, and 2.0% in 2027. Last year’s growth of 2.4% lagged regional peers. Headline inflation was forecast to average 2.9% this year, up from a projection of 0.3% made in December, driven by the surge in global energy prices. The central bank’s target range is 1% to 3%. The central bank said it expected exports to rise by 8.1% this year, supported by demand for tech products, up sharply from a December projection of a 0.6% rise after a strong performance in the first quarter. On Tuesday, the Finance Ministry lowered China suspends new autonomous vehicle permits BEIJING: China has suspended issuing new licenses for autonomous vehicles after robotaxis operated by Baidu’s Apollo Go abruptly stopped in Wuhan last month, Bloomberg News reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter. The halt means self-driving firms cannot add robotaxis to their existing fleets, launch new pilot projects, or expand into additional cities, the report said. Baidu’s robotaxi operations in Wuhan have also been suspended as local authorities’ investigation into the outage is underway, it added. Two other major robotaxi firms said safety is their top priority as their operations remain up and running normally. “Pony.ai’s robotaxi services in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are currently operating normally,“ it said. “Our preparation work in Changsha and Hangzhou is also progressing as planned,“ the company said. WeRide’s “robotaxi services in China are still operating as normal” and are covering more than 1,000 square km, according to a company statement. “We support the authorities’ efforts to ensure the highest safety standards across the industry,“ it said. In a meeting earlier in April, Chinese authorities ordered local authorities to conduct self-inspections and strengthen safety oversight of road tests involving intelligent connected vehicles. – Reuters

Demand for Huawei’s Ascend 950 AI chips surges

BEIJING: Demand for Huawei’s Ascend 950 AI chips has surged following the release of DeepSeek’s V4 artificial intelligence model that runs on the Shenzhen-based tech firm’s chips, with major Chinese internet firms rushing to secure orders, three people familiar with the matter said. China’s biggest internet firms including ByteDance, Tencent and Alibaba are reaching out to Huawei about new chip orders, said the sources, who are familiar with the procurement discussions. Companies specialising in cloud computing and graphics processing unit (GPU) rental services are also scrambling to place orders, two of the sources added, without providing the names of the firms. While the 950PR significantly outperforms Nvidia’s H20 chip – the most powerful chip Nvidia was permitted to sell in China until Beijing blocked its import last year – it still trails the American firm’s H200, a more advanced processor

o Big Chinese tech firms rush to secure orders after DeepSeek V4 launch: Sources

SuperNode product line had been adapted for V4 inference, referring to the process of using a trained AI model to answer queries and execute tasks. Among Chinese chipmakers, Huawei’s Ascend 950 series – specifically the 950PR variant – is the only domestic chip to support a technique that processes AI calculations in a more compressed numerical format, allowing it to handle more computations per second at a lower cost. Highlighting the rush for access, Alibaba Cloud’s Bailian platform made DeepSeek V4 available on the day that it was released, offering both the V4-Pro and V4-Flash variants with pricing matching DeepSeek’s official rates. Tencent Cloud launched V4 preview services on its TokenHub platform on the same day, deploying the model on both domestic nodes and its Singapore international gateway to serve global users. The rapid deployment by major cloud platforms means millions of users and developers can now access V4, sharply increasing the volume of AI queries that need to be processed – and with it, demand for the underlying chips. DeepSeek, which is offering developers a 75% discount on its new model until May 5, said V4-Pro pricing could decline significantly in the second half of 2026 once Huawei’s Ascend 950 supernodes “ship at scale”. However, the company acknowledged that constraints would persist until production ramps up, reflecting the tight supply of high-end homemade AI chips. DeepSeek’s V4 includes two versions: V4-Pro with 1.6 trillion total parameters and V4-Flash with 284 billion parameters, both supporting a one-million-token context window. The models are available as open-source releases under the permissive MIT open-source licence, which allows companies to freely use, modify and commercialise the models. However, output of the 950 is expected to fall short of demand due to US export restrictions on advanced chipmaking tools that prevent China from acquiring cutting-edge manufacturing equipment. Huawei planned to ship around 750,000 units of the 950PR this year, with mass production beginning in April and full-scale shipments starting in the second half of 2026, according to people familiar with the plans. – Reuters

The scramble for Huawei’s chips underscores how DeepSeek’s V4 release last week has turbocharged demand for domestic Chinese AI hardware as US export controls continue to restrict access to Nvidia’s most advanced processors. It is also an endorsement of the performance of Huawei’s chips so far. DeepSeek’s decision to optimise its V4 specifically for Huawei’s chips marks a strategic shift away from US semiconductor dependence and more towards China’s homegrown AI gear, which is a priority for Beijing as it seeks tech supremacy. Last week, Huawei said its Ascend supernode infrastructure, built on the Ascend 950 series chips, would fully support DeepSeek V4 models and that the entire Ascend

that has been caught up in regulatory limbo. Despite US and Chinese approvals for exports, the H200 has yet to be shipped to China as Beijing and Washington remain at odds over the conditions governing its sale, providing an opportunity for Huawei to sell its semiconductors. The 950PR represents a breakthrough for Huawei after years of struggling to win large orders from China’s tech sector. Customer testing of the chip went well earlier this year, with firms including ByteDance and Alibaba planning orders after samples were distributed in January, Reuters reported in March. Huawei, ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent did not respond to Reuters requests for comments.

Bank of Thailand forecasts slower growth, higher inflation BANGKOK: Thailand’s central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at a review yesterday, as expected, saying it needed to assess the impact of higher oil prices driven by the war in the Middle East while also supporting an economy grappling with weak consumption and high household debt.

Motorists wait at a traffic light at Pratunam intersection in Bangkok. – AFPPIC

disruptions, which could have significant adverse effects on the manufacturing sector and employment,“ the BOT said. Earlier this month, the government approved support measures to mitigate the impact of high oil prices, including subsidies and loans. It plans to launch a consumer subsidy scheme in June. – Reuters

Six cuts between October 2024 and February had reduced the key rate by a total of 150 basis points as authorities sought to spark Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy. The Middle East war and oil price shock have added to the pressures facing the economy. “It is necessary to monitor downside risks arising from a prolonged war and supply

its 2026 growth forecast to 1.6% from 2%, and forecast inflation would rise to 3% this year. All 28 economists in a Reuters poll expected steady policy at this week’s meeting. A strong majority, 24 of 28, expected the policy rate to remain on hold throughout 2026, while four tipped a 25 basis-point cut by year-end.

Indonesia crude palm oil output to fall due to El Nino, high fertiliser prices JAKARTA: Indonesia’s crude palm oil output this year may drop by up to 2 million metric tons compared to 2025 due to El Nino-related dry weather and high fertiliser prices driven by the war in Middle East, the head of the country’s palm oil producer association said yesterday. GAPKI chairman Eddy Martono said fertiliser prices have risen by 30% after the war broke out in Middle East, and worried smallholders – who account for 37% of Indonesia’s palm oil plantation areas – may reduce or postpone fertiliser use. “If El Nino occurs, this will lead to a decline (in production), and if fertiliser is applied by the end of the semester, it is possible that production could drop by 1 million to 2 million tons. “Now fertiliser (prices) have risen by 30% due to the war,“ he said. “We are worried smallholders would not apply fertiliser.” Indonesia, the world’s largest palm oil producer, is expected to experience a longer and more severe dry season in 2026 compared to last

year, the country’s meteorological agency warned. Setiyono, chairman of oil palm farmers group ASPEKPIR, said some fertiliser prices have risen more than 50%, and his group members were using organic fertiliser to cut costs. – Reuters