BOT in good shape to keep policy rate low: Kittiratt

Kittiratt Na-Ranong, who is also a deputy prime minister, noted the Bank of Thailand’s Bt3-trillion excess liquidity.
“Several agencies have said that our [policy] rate may change. The BOT’s Bt3-trillion liquidity is ready to return to the system, and we have foreign reserves of more than US$175 billion,” he said.
The central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee decided to leave the policy rate unchanged at 2.50 per cent in its last three meetings, while stating that the current rate was proper for economic expansion.
This week, the BOT revealed the International Monetary Fund’s latest economic review for Thailand. The review stated that Thailand’s current monetary easing was appropriate.
Kittiratt said that if the BOT kept the rate low, prompting some capital outflows, there would be no impact on the Thai economy, which remained strong.
There is also no sign of concerns over increased non-performing mortgages, despite the rising number of rejected loan applications for home purchases, he said.
 The rejection rate is still not too high compared with the rising number of approved loan applications.
He said the rising level of household debt, fuelled by property purchases, had not cause problems in the financial system, while several property companies had reported their sales records, which could drive the economy.
It is good that financial institutions have become more careful with their loan extensions as that could put competition at a proper level, Kittiratt said.
The BOT yesterday released its latest report on business trends, in which it expected the property business to expand in the current final quarter at a decreasing rate, while financial institutions expect mortgage demand to be close to that in the third quarter. The report included data surveyed in September.
Some financial institutions tend to put more stringent controls over loan extension on rising concerns of credit risks of borrowers, the report said.