Baht to stay volatility in short-term in wake of FED's QE decision

BANGKOK, September 21 (TNA) - The Federation of Thai Industries or FTI says that the Thai baht is expected to stay volatile only in the short-term, after the Federal Reserve (FED), the US central bank, decided unexpectedly earlier this week to maintain its quantitative easing (QE) measure, under which assets of 85 billion US dollars are to be monthly injected into the US economy as a major economic stimulus. Making the assessment on Friday (Sept 20), FTI Chairman Payungsak Chartsuthipol told reporters that the Thai private sector is monitoring the situation closely on a weekly basis. Payungsak pointed out, however, that the Thai baht, which now stands around 31 baht a US dollar, is considered appropriate, as it is in line with other currencies in the region. The FTI chief noted that the Thai private sector is not much worried, as most of them have already hedged against currency risks. On Friday (Sept 20), the value of the Thai currency strengthened to 30.95 baht a US dollar, compared to 31.88 baht against the greenback a week ago. The Bangkok-based Kasikorn Research Centre (KRC) has projected that the baht should hover around 30.80–31.20 baht a US dollar next week. (TNA)