The Bank of Thailand Interest Rate Left Unchanged
September 16, 2015
There have been nine cuts of the one-day repo rate since November 2011, most recently in March and April of this year. The current level, 1.50%, is just 25 basis points above the 66-year low hit in the Great Recession. Thai monetary officials in their latest statement following a unanimous decision to keep policy unchanged observe that growth recently turned positive but the “slowing global economy and higher volatility in the global financial markets.” They are counting on fiscal stimulus to counterbalance these negatives but wouldn’t rule out a future rate cut: “The Committee stands ready to utilize an appropriate mix of available policy tools in order to support the economic recovery, while ensuring financial stability.” Regarding inflation, “headline inflation is projected to stay in negative territory for the rest of 2015, before turning positive in the first quarter of 2016, later than previously assessed.” Core inflation already is in the black.
Copyright 2015, Larry Greenberg. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: Bank of Thailand
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