Bank of Thailand
A U.S. Current Account Stunner Prior to the FOMC Announcement
December 18, 2024
The last FOMC announcement of 2024 arrives this afternoon. A 25-basis point interest rate cut is still expected, but a strong sense of suspense surrounds what is said about likely policy next year and the unveiling of updated forecasts from America’s central bank. While investors await the Federal Reserve’s show, the Commerce Department released third-quarter […] More
Thailand and the Philippines
October 16, 2024
The Central Bank of the Philippines‘ key interest rate was lowered by 25 basis points today to 6.0% in a follow-up to an initial 25-bp cut in August. A peak of 6.5% had been reached in August 2023 after increases totaling 100 bps in 2023 and 350 bps in the second half of 2022. Filipino […] More
Several Central Bank Policy Reviews and Signs of Receding Inflation
October 16, 2024
Central bank policy interest rates were cut today in the Philippines, Thailand and Namibia, each by 25 basis points, while Indonesia’s 7-day repo rate, which had been reduced at last month’s review, was not changed. Just prior to the release of U.S. import and export price figures, the dollar was showing no net change overnight […] More
Bad U.S. CPI News Impacts Financial Markets Immediately
April 10, 2024
U.S. consumer price inflation in March exceeded expectations and continued a 2024 pattern of disappointment for investors hoping to see the Federal Reserve lower interest rates. In response, The weighted DXY dollar index is 0.8% above Tuesday’s closing level. The greenback rose 1.4% and 1.0% against the Australian and New Zealand dollar, 0.9% versus the […] More
Softer Dollar and Sovereign Debt Prices as Central Banks Not Rushing to Ease but Equities Showing Some Resilience
February 7, 2024
The dollar slid overnight by 0.3% against sterling and 0.2% relative to the euro, Canadian dollar and as measured by the DXY weighted index. A further rise in sovereign debt yields today — 4 basis points in British 10-year gilts, 3 basis points in 10-year U.S. Treasuries, and 2 basis points in German, French, Italian […] More
Eighth Straight Central Bank Rate Hike in Thailand
September 27, 2023
The Bank of Thailand surprised central bank watchers with yet another unanimous 25-basis point interest rate hike to a ten-year high of 2.50%. The rate benchmark had been 0.50% from May 2020 until an initial 25-bp increase in August 2022, and the latest on-year increase of CPI inflation (0.9%) remained below the target corridor of […] More
Rate Hike in Thailand
August 2, 2023
In Thailand where inflation is currently also very low at 0.2% as of June, monetary officials today agreed unanimously to raise the central bank’s key interest rate by 25 basis points to 2.25%. The Bank of Thailand‘s rate had been lowered from 1.75% in August 2019 to 0.50% by May 2020 in increments of 25 […] More
Dollar Strengthens in Spite of U.S. Debt Downgrade and a Second Federal Indictment of Former President Trump
August 2, 2023
The dollar remained well-bid overnight with rises of 0.6% against the New Zealand kiwi, o.5% relative to the Australian dollar, 0.8% versus the Russian ruble, 0.3% against the Swiss franc, 0.2% versus the loonie, and 0.1% against the euro. Alternatively the dollar is steady against the Chinese renminbi and sterling and has lost 0.4% versus […] More
Investors Anxious Over Several Matters
January 25, 2023
Although down from 2022 highs in many places, inflation remains too elevated for central bankers to feel comfortable. Many data including this week’s spate of purchasing manager surveys are consistent with a contraction of GDP in this first quarter of 2023. The war in Ukraine and proliferation of mass shootings in the United States are […] More
Thailand and Mauritius Central Bank Rate Hikes
September 28, 2022
The Bank of Thailand’s policy rate was lifted 25 basis points as expected to 1.0%. That was the second such increase, the first being done just last months. At 1.0%, the rate remains 25 basis points less than Thailand’s pre-pandemic level of 1.25%. CPI inflation had climbed to 7.86% by August, but BOT officials project […] More
