The Bank of Thailand maintains its policy rate at 0.5 percent and warns that the economy could contract 8.1 percent due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of Thailand decided in its meeting on Wednesday.
Secretary of the MPC Titanun Mallikamas said the committee members voted unanimously to maintain the policy rate at 0.5 percent.
The committee viewed that the Thai economy could contract 8.1 percent this year, a record low, he said.
Assessing the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak, he said, the MPC believed that economic activities would gradually recover in the second half of the year in Thailand and other countries that effectively contained the outbreak.
To support businesses and facilitate the economic recovery, timely fiscal measures along with accommodative monetary policy, credit measures and speedy debt restructuring would be vital, Titanun said.
The MPC members also raised concerns over the appreciation of Thai baht that could hurt the economic recovery and vowed to implement appropriate measures, he said. (TNA)
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