No plan to control gold trade: Kittiratt
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Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong insisted Thursday that Thailand has no plan to restrict gold imports and exports.
He said that gold is equivalent to cash. As such, as there is no measure to reign capital flows, gold trade should also be excepted as well.
"There is no need for a law to govern gold trade. We allow transactions on currencies. And if gold trade is equivalent to currency trade, there should be no special control. At present, capital flows are not used in the calculation of the balance of payment and current account. As such, there should be no problem if gold trade should fall into the same condition," he said.
He noted that another set of current account - which exclude gold import/export - may be needed.
To Kittiratt, it is natural that people buy gold when it's cheap, which in turn encourages imports. And it is also natural for them to sell when the price is up.
According to the Commerce Ministry, gold imports in the first eight months of this year rose 36.4 per cent from the same period this year.
