BANGKOK, 31 October 2013 The Bank of Thailand (BoT) will discuss the country’s political problems during the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) this 27 November as it is closely monitoring the anti-amnesty bill rallies.
BoT Senior Director Methee Supapong said the central bank would keep an eye on the protests against the amnesty bill to see whether they would be prolonged or become violent. He revealed that the ongoing political problems would be discussed at the MPC meeting on 27 November in order to determine whether consumer confidence and the economy would be affected.
The central bank was still confident the Thai economy in the fourth quarter would improve but in a gradual manner. According to the senior director, the economy in the third quarter had better signs than the previous quarter, thanks to increasing exports in many categories and higher tourism growth.
However, investment in the private sector has not yet recovered due to decreasing motor sales and machinery imports. Consumption of the private sector dropped 6.1% from lower consumption of durable goods and automobiles. Mr Methee said the household sector was also cautious about spending.
