The baht has begun to hold still and move up and down in a more regular manner, according to the Bank of Thailand (BoT).
Senior Director Wongwatoo Potirat of the BoT Financial Markets and Reserve Management Department said the baht has begun to move in a narrow range and in both selling and buying directions.
This has eased the central bank’s concern about the continued strengthening of the currency. However, the bank would continue monitoring the situation closely.
Regarding the US Federal Reserve’s announcement it would launch a second edition of quantitative easing (QE) soon, or inject an additional US$500 billion into the system soon, he said the market had absorbed the news to a certain extent because Fed had made clear its stance on the matter.
Because of this, he thought the impact would not be adverse as the measure is expected to be gradually implemented.
Even so, central banks around the world including BoT are already monitoring the Fed’s move.
Asked whether the central bank is likely to re-impose the 30 percent capital requirement or reduce the reserve provisioning portion to control capital inflows, Wongwatoo said the measure would only be adopted as a last resort because it could cause severe repercussions. (MCOT online news)
