Baht weakens after hitting Bt29/dollar
The baht has retreated after passing the Bt30 mark to Bt29 level against the US dollar in the New Year period.
The Thai currency moved down to Bt 30.18/dollar this morning (December 2) after the weighted-average interbank exchange rate strengthened to Bt30.121 a dollar on December 30, a day before the New Year holidays, assistant governor of the Bank of Thailand Vachira Arromdee said today (January 2).
The depreciation today, she said, was mainly driven by the return of market liquidity but warned that the baht has been highly volatile as the market adjusts to a new equilibrium between market forces of buying and selling US dollar.
The central bank will closely monitor the exchange rate market, she said.
“Participants should wait for market adjustment to settle in before making transactions,” she added.
The baht, in spot market, surged past the Bt30/dollar level to over Bt29 on December 31 and January 1.
Strengthening of the baht had put much pressure on the Thai economy last year, said Tisco Research. It also forecast growth of Thai gross domestic product at just 2.6 per cent in 2020, up from 2.5 per cent estimated for 2019.
