Banker:Baht value is cushioned by strong Thai economy

BANGKOK, August 22 (TNA) - The value of the Thai baht is unlikely to plunge, thanks to strong fundamentals of the Thai economy. Banluesak Pussarangsi, Executive Vice President of CIMB Thai Bank, made the assessment on Thursday, explaining that the value of the Thai currency should not plunge because the Thai economy has strong fundamentals and Thailand has high foreign exchange reserves. Banluesak noted that Thailand has just started to post a current account deficit this year; so, he is not worried over the ongoing baht depreciation, caused partly by reduced investment in Thai bonds and stocks by foreign investors and speculations on the US dollar, as the US Federal Open Market Committee has not set an exact time for its reduction of the quantitative easing (QE) implementation. The value of the Thai baht continued weakening to the range of 32.02-32.04 baht a US dollar on Thursday morning, compared with 31.81-31.83 baht a US dollar on Wednesday evening, resulting from the appreciation of the greenback against other currencies. The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index, meanwhile, dropped by nearly 20 points on Thursday morning, reflecting the expected QE reduction and capital outflows. (TNA)