Thailand wil renteverlaging van centrale bank wegens stijgende baht

Thai Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong said the central bank should cut the key interest rate by more than a quarter of a percentage point or implement capital controls to stem the baht’s rise, which is threatening exports.

“If anyone would suggest to cut by 25 basis points, I feel that it’s not enough,” Kittiratt said in an interview today in Bangkok. “It might not be even good, because it might mean that we are thinking of using the interest-rate policy to control the inflow. But then if you don’t do it enough, the market can really imagine that we’ll do it again, another round too soon.”

If the central bank doesn’t cut the policy rate by more than a quarter percentage point, it should refrain from any reduction and instead “work on the capital controls,” Kittiratt said, a strategy he doesn’t favor because it’s “high risk.” A baht level lower than 29 per dollar is “way too strong,” while “well above” 30 is reasonable, he said.