BANGKOK, May 1 – Thailand’s export target growth of 8-9 per cent may be reduced due to the volatile Thai currency, according to Commerce Minister Boonsong Teriyapirom.
He repeated his call for the Bank of Thailand (BoT) to provide measures to tackle the appreciating baht, warning that the country’s overall exports will be adversely affected if action is not taken.
Mr Boonsong is scheduled to meet with Thai commercial envoys worldwide late this month to evaluate the situation.
He said the surging baht has also affected the government’s release of a new lot of rice under government-to-government deals as it is difficult to fix the prices.
Thailand may have to sell rice at lower prices and the country may have to suffer unnecessary losses in releasing new stocks, he said.
He stood firm that the government did not approve the release of two million tonnes of rice while the new pledging scheme for the harvest in 2013/2014 has yet to be worked out, probably not until October.
