BANGKOK, 19 December 2013 The University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC) does not believe the US’s relaxing of quantitative easing (QE) will have a negative impact on the Thai economy.
According to Thanawat Polwichai, Director of the UTCC’s Center for Economic and Business Forecasting (CEBF), the reason why the US Federal Reserve has tapered its QE measures is the drop in its unemployment rate and other economic factors that have seen some improvement. In addition to the US’s promising economic trend, the United States Congress has recently approved the latest proposed budget, which helps the US avoid another government shutdown. As a result, the US Federal Reserve has decided to relax its quantitative easing for the upcoming month of January, adjusting it down to 10 billion US dollars.
The director also expressed his belief that such move would not pose any threat to Thailand, as the country’s economy has already been clouded by political turmoil.
As for the depreciation of the Thai baht, Mr. Thanawat said the weakening Thai currency would boost the country’s export industry.
