BANGKOK, 23 April 2014 — The Bank of Thailand’s monetary policy committee has decided in a 6:1 vote to maintain the benchmark policy rate at 2%, while Thai economy is expected to grow at a slower rate than earlier anticipated due to the unstable politics.
Paibul Kittisrikangwan, assistant governor of the central bank’s monetary policy affairs committee, said the meeting had closely considered the domestic economy and inflation rates, as well as the global outlook. The US economy has recovered while China is at some risk in its financial sector and from a slowdown in its investment activity.
Meanwhile, the Thai economy’s first quarter is likely to contract more than earlier expected, due to the political malaise.
Private sector investment and tourism have been affected while the export sector is recovering slowly but not uniformly over the whole sector. Pressure from the rate of inflation is close to the estimates.
