BANGKOK, 23 April 2013 The Bank of Thailand (BoT) is now calling on the private sector to brace for stronger baht.
BoT Assistant Governor Paiboon Kittisrikangwan said on Tuesday that the baht has been strengthening too fast and too sturdily in recent days.
Mr. Paiboon conceded that a timely assessment is now needed to see how the private sector has been preparing for the strong baht and whether some measures should now be implemented.
The BoT Assistant Governor said the introduction of any measure to tame the baht appreciation must be made at the right time in order to give the business sector sufficient amount of time to deal with the situation.
He went on to say that the latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting has already taken into consideration all information and factors, which can affect the baht value, including the increase in household debt and the heat in the property sector, when projecting this year’s Thai economic growth rate.
The MPC has estimated that Thai GDP growth will be at 5.1 percent while assuring that the current benchmark interest rate or 2.75 percent suits the situation in the country well.
