Thailand raises interest rates after long hiatus
Thailand’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2011, joining peers in the region in tightening monetary policy this year, Bloomberg News reported.
Five of the seven committee members at the meeting voted to raise the one-day bond repurchase rate to 1.75 per cent from 1.5 per cent, the Bank of Thailand (BoT) said in a statement on December 19. Two voted for the rate to be kept unchanged. The policy decisions comes against the backdrop of rising US interest rates, a rebound in emerging markets and weaker global growth prospects.
“This was a dovish hike – similar to Korea’s one-off hike,” said Trinh Nguyen, a senior economist at Natixis in Hong Kong. “Inflationary pressures remain low and manufacturing is weak so the BoT will likely be done with this hike.”
The Bank of Thailand is the last of the main Southeast Asian central banks to tighten monetary policy this year, concerned about a subdued economic growth environment and still low inflation.
Thailand’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2011, joining peers in the region in tightening monetary policy this year, Bloomberg News reported. Five of the seven committee members at the meeting voted to raise the one-day bond repurchase rate to 1.75 per cent from 1.5 per cent, the Bank of Thailand (BoT) said in a statement on December 19. Two voted for the rate to be kept unchanged. The policy decisions comes against the backdrop of rising US interest rates, a rebound in emerging markets and weaker global growth prospects. “This was a dovish...
Thailand’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2011, joining peers in the region in tightening monetary policy this year, Bloomberg News reported.
Five of the seven committee members at the meeting voted to raise the one-day bond repurchase rate to 1.75 per cent from 1.5 per cent, the Bank of Thailand (BoT) said in a statement on December 19. Two voted for the rate to be kept unchanged. The policy decisions comes against the backdrop of rising US interest rates, a rebound in emerging markets and weaker global growth prospects.
“This was a dovish hike – similar to Korea’s one-off hike,” said Trinh Nguyen, a senior economist at Natixis in Hong Kong. “Inflationary pressures remain low and manufacturing is weak so the BoT will likely be done with this hike.”
The Bank of Thailand is the last of the main Southeast Asian central banks to tighten monetary policy this year, concerned about a subdued economic growth environment and still low inflation.
