English
Thailand wants to restrain the world’s strongest currency
[BANGKOK] Thailand’s central bank is fretting over the world-beating surge in the nation’s currency.
Related departments at the Bank of Thailand are looking at possible measures as the monetary authority is “worried” about the baht’s comparative strength, its senior director Don Nakornthab told reporters in Bangkok on Wednesday.
He also said that there’s room for an interest-rate cut, while adding the “important thing is proper timing” and that the central bank is data dependent.
The baht has climbed 8.6 per cent against the dollar in the past year, the best performer globally, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It’s viewed as a safe haven given Thailand’s history of current-account surpluses and near record foreign-exchange reserves.
The central bank left borrowing costs at 1.75 per cent and cut its economic growth forecasts last month. The outlook in the export-reliant nation has dimmed amid the US-China trade war and the currency’s climb.
BLOOMBERG