BOT unfazed by capital outflows, says official
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The Bank of Thailand is not much concerned with the current capital outflow as the situation is in line with the rest of the region, said an official of the central bank.
Suchada Kirakul, adviser to the BOT governor, said Thailand’s economic fundamentals were still healthy. The central bank is standing by its forecast of 5.1-per-cent growth in gross domestic product this year.
She noted that some foreign investors, especially long-term investors, though selling off some shares and bonds to take profit, might not bring money out of the country, as they viewed that Thailand and other emerging economies were still yielding attractive returns. If they choose to invest in their own countries instead, they can expect relatively low gains.
She said the weakening of the baht stemmed from the stronger US dollar and the reports that the US Federal Reserve might cancel its quantitative-easing policy earlier than scheduled. The recent BOT report on Thailand’s record-high current-account deficit might be another factor weakening the baht.
The country experienced a current-account deficit in April of US$3.361 billion (Bt102.8 billion), the highest since the central bank started collecting economic data in 1995.
Suchada said the baht’s movement at the moment was in line with those of other regional currencies.
She said the property market was also cooling down but the central bank was still keeping a close watch on the sector.
The baht at 6.30pm yesterday stood at 30.6075 to the US dollar, up 0.11 per cent from Thursday.
