Thailand
Thailand: Thai central bank seen holding policy rate this wee
BANGKOK: Thailand’s central bank will likely leave its policy rate unchanged near record lows this week, as policymakers turn their focus to fiscal spending to support weak economic growth.
Bank of Thailand governor Veerathai Santiprabhob told Reuters last month that monetary policy would remain “accommodative” as the economic recovery was fragile and inflation was not a big concern.
Thailand’s ruling junta has ramped up infrastructure projects and approved an extra budget of US$5.4bil to help revive growth in South-East Asia’s second-largest economy, which has lagged its peers. Exports and domestic demand remain sluggish.
All 23 economists polled by Reuters forecast the central bank’s one-day repurchase rate would be kept at 1.50%, where it has been since April 2015, when its monetary policy committee meets today, its first review of the year. The rate is just a quarter-point above the all-time low reached in 2009, following the global financial crisis.
Thailand’s export downturn may be bottoming out after customs-cleared shipments grew in 2016, ending three years of contraction, but the economy faces rising global risks.
The central bank governor warned of heightened global risks with the United States taking a more protectionist line under president Donald Trump. – Reuters
Source: http://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2017/02/08/thai-central-bank-seen-holding-policy-rate-this-week/#At6iKi3eMIlCROTw.99