BANGKOK, 29 Jan 2014 According to the Bank of Thailand (BoT), consumers living in the capital and its vicinity still have access to their cash despite the presence of the political gatherings and the closure of several of commercial bank branches. It also confirms that there will be enough bank notes for Ang Pao, or lucky money gift, during the Chinese New Year.
The BoT also indicated that last week commercial banks withdrew additional 20 billion baht worth of bank notes in anticipation for surge in spending during the Chinese New Year. The BoT is confident that there would be sufficient amount of cash when the festival arrives at the end of this week.
The Bank of Thailand also touched on the effects of the ongoing political gathering in the capital, saying that currently there are 30 branches of commercial banks still operational within the rally sites. The BoT pointed out that Bangkok and its surrounding provinces has more than 1,000 branches of commercial banks, thus, it is convinced that consumer living in the areas would still have full access to their savings.
It also said that each bank is working their best to distribute cash to ATMs located in the demonstration zones, citing only 30-40 ATM booths are reported out-of-order, none of which has insufficient cash issue.
The BoT reiterated that there will be enough notes for the next 2-3 months for normal level of spending which worth around 100 – 200 billion baht a day. Nonetheless, the central bank expressed its concerns that the consumer spending has declined considerably despite the New Year and the arrival of the Chinese New Year.
