BOT takes care of Thai baht

BANGKOK, October 15 (TNA) - Economic ministers have ordered the Bank of Thailand (BOT) to well-manage the value of the Thai baht, after capital inflows have exceeded 2 billion US dollars, while the central bank has decided to maintain its key interest rate at 2.50 per cent per annum. Government Spokesman Teerat Ratanasevi told journalists on Wednesday that the economic ministers made the order at a meeting in Bangkok earlier in the day, after the Ministry of Finance, the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) and the BOT reported the expansion of the US debt ceiling and assessed that the baht value should stand at about 31 baht a US dollar. Teerat said US debts, worth about 6 billion US dollars, are due for repayment this month and the authorities noted that the amount does not pose a problem to Thailand, but the United States is due to repay a huge debt of 30 billion US dollars next month. According to the spokesman, the BOT has prepared measures to prevent the baht value from widely fluctuating and affecting the national economy subsequently. The spokesman quoted the BOT as reporting that the US debts will not have any significant direct impact on the Thai economy because Thailand bought only 0.78 per cent of US bonds, compared with China, which purchased 23 per cent of overall US bonds, totally worth 5.59 trillion US dollars. The Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) revealed that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised its estimation on Thailand's gross domestic product (GDP) growth downwards to 3.1 per cent year-on-year this year, but the US-based IMF has predicted that the Thai economy should expand by 5.2 per cent year-on-year next year, up from its earlier forecast of 4.2 per cent, thanks to the government's new 2.2-trillion-baht infrastructure investment plans. Meanwhile, the BOT's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously at its Wednesday's meeting to keep the central bank's policy interest rate at 2.50 per cent, reasoning that the Thai economy remains stable and it is likely to be gradually recover.(TNA)