Bank of Thailand Policy Interest Rate Unchanged at 1.25%
October 21, 2009
As expected and for a fourth straight meeting following ones in August, July and May, Thai monetary officials left their benchmark rate steady at 1.25% and declared such a level to be accommodative, appropriate and supportive of economic recovery. A released statement called inflation pressure subdued and the outlook for domestic demand better but still associated with uncertainty. Thai GDP rose 9.6% at an annualized rate in 2Q09 but was still 4.9% lower than a year earlier. Industrial production fell 10.3% in the year to August, and CPI inflation fell to a 12-month rate of minus last month from +6.1% in the year to September 2008. The benchmark interest rate peaked at 3.75% in August 2008. Then, four rate cuts of diminishing size were implemented, starting with a reduction of 100 basis points in December and followed by drops of 75 bps in January, 50 bps in February and 25 bps to the current 1.25% in April.
Copyright Larry Greenberg 2009. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
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