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Thailand: FTI wrings hands over baht appreciation
The Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) has expressed serious concerns about the baht’s appreciation and its impact on the export sector, which covers farm produce, food and consumer products.
The FTI called on the government on Tuesday to carefully manage the baht’s value and its exchange rates in order to help local industries struggling to deal with the pandemic’s impact.
The appropriate rate is 32 baht per US dollar, the FTI said.
Chairman Supant Mongkolsuthree said the baht’s value has been getting stronger rapidly since early this year, rising from 33 baht to 30 baht per US dollar. This affects businesses and Thai entrepreneurs’ competitiveness in global markets, he said.
“We want the Bank of Thailand to look into the exchange rate,” said Mr Supant.
“The government needs to announce more measures to help these businesses, following the 10% baht appreciation.”
The economic situation remains volatile as worry over a second outbreak persists, FTI said. A new surge of infections will obstruct efforts to restore the economy and cause further contraction.
These worries were expressed as FTI announced the Thailand Industrial Sentiment Index (TISI) for October, which continued to increase for six consecutive months to 86 points from 85.2 in September.
TISI was based on a survey of 1,215 enterprises in 45 industries who were asked to share their views on the economic climate.
Mr Supant attributed the TISI increase in October to improving domestic demand for consumer products, including durable goods, which resulted in the manufacturing sector recovering.
The government’s economic stimulus packages in tourism and retail segments also stimulated spending.
Surapong Paisitpatanapong, vice-chairman and spokesman for FTI’s automotive club, said Thailand’s car production from January to October this year decreased by 35.5% year-on-year to 1,112,426 units.
Pickup sales continued to increase due to growing demand in Thailand and overseas.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2021275/fti-wrings-hands-over-baht-appreciation