BANGKOK, 6 September 2013 The Bank of Thailand (BoT) has reported that the country’s foreign exchange reserves as of 30 August 2013 stood at 168 billion USD or 5.41 trillion baht, decreasing by 1.7 billion USD.
It has been speculated that the lower foreign exchange reserves is a result of the central bank’s currency intervention to prevent the baht from being volatile and weakening too quickly. The BoT also used foreign exchange reserves for account adjustments and loss reduction during the baht appreciation.
The central bank’s US dollar issuance has been limited due to its policy to allow the baht to fluctuate in accordance with the market mechanism.
The baht currency has a tendency to depreciate in line with other currencies in the region following the U.S.’s positive economic data and the news that the Fed is preparing to stop using quantitative easing.
