Fund inflows trouble BOT chief

 Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Thailand Focus forum yesterday, Veerathai said that he was worried about the short-term inflows over the past few days as they had been more pronounced than those seen by other countries in the region.
“The central bank has been closely monitoring short-term inflows and the movement of the baht. We feel uncomfortable that some investors have used Thailand to park their short-term funds,” the chief of the Bank of Thailand (BOT).
He said that measures such as a reduction in short-term bond issuance to counter inflows may be reconsidered later.
Asked about interest policy normalisation, Veerathai said that any rise in the policy rate would depend on updates to economic conditions. Inflation has started to move closer to target but it remains low, he said.
Growth in gross domestic product (GDP) in the first half of the year was relatively high at 4.8 per cent, but households are still cautious about spending due to their high debts.
The trade dispute between the United States and China poses a threat to Thailand’s economy, he said. Some Thai companies that have close links with manufacturers in China have felt the impact. However, other firms may benefit from the conflict as some US importers may turn to Thai products to avoid the higher tariffs on Chinese goods, Veerathai added.

Kobsidthi Silpachai, head of capital markets research at Kasikornbank, said that the baht moved lower against the US dollar yesterday, trading at around 32.72 to the greenback after Veerathai’s comments.
The baht also reached a near-six-year high against the yuan. A stronger currency would be bad for the tourism industry as one in three visitors came from China, Kobsidthi said.
Thailand is expected to have a current account surplus equivalent to 9.4 per cent of GDP this year, after having reached 10.5 per cent of GDP last year. Thailand ‘ s current account surplus ratio to GDP is the third highest after Singapore and Taiwan, making the baht attractive for investors, added Kobsidthi.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak yesterday pledged that the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) would be a regional market for the so-called CLMVT subregion - Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand - in the next few years.
Delivering his opening speech at the annual Thailand Focus forum yesterday, Somkid said that over the past four years the SET’s market capitalisation had increased by US$120 billion. This led to a market capitalisation of up to $500 billion, or 116 per cent of GDP.
At the forum, he told the fund managers who were visiting from around the world that the SET Index is trading, on average, at around 1,700 points - boosted by strong listed companies.
“The SET is set to link with exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai and will also link with capital markets in CLMV countries. And within a few years, the SET could be the hub for the CLMVT region,” said Somkid. 

Many Thai firms have become stronger after emerging from the 1997 Asian financial crisis and were not affected by 2008 global financial crisis, he said. Thai firms now also make direct investments in other countries.
The economy has also been returning to a growth path after the political stability of the past four years, said Somkid.
Against this backdrop, Thailand’s economy has a bright future, according to Somkid.
Foreign direct investment in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) over that past two years was $670 billion, he said.
Large numbers of Japanese and Chinese investors had visited the EEC recently as they were interested in investing in the zone, he added.
The SET said that 161 fund mangers attended the Thailand Focus conference this year, along with executives from 115 Thai listed firms with a combined market capitalisation of Bt 13.65 trillion. By market capitalisation, this corporate turnout at the event represented 78 per cent of the market.