Thai baht touches weakest level in three years

BANGKOK, January 2 (TNA) - The Thai baht weakened to its lowest value in three years on Thursday, at the rate of 32.94 baht a US dollar. Bank of Thailand (BOT) Spokeswoman Rung Malikamas told journalists that the baht depreciation to its lowest level against the greenback resulted from four internal and external factors, including the noticeable recovery of the US economy, slight transactions of overseas stock exchanges due to a long New Year holiday, an increase in funds' investment in the stock exchanges of developed countries and persistent domestic political protests. The spokesperson acknowledged that baht depreciation or appreciation are both possible in the future, depending on the updated situation, which could be better or worse than expected. According to the BOT spokesperson, the baht depreciation is unlikely to spur Thailand's inflation significantly because imports account for only 20 per cent of domestic consumption, while local business operators are unlikely to sharply raise their products' prices along with rising power and cooking gas prices because consumers now have weak purchasing power. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce reported that Thailand's consumer price index (CPI), the gauge of inflation, is foreseen to grow by 2-2.8 per cent on average in 2014, based on the assumption that the national economy would grow by 3-5 per cent this year, the Thai government's measures to ease people's rising costs of living would be carried on, the Thai baht would hover around 28-34 baht a US dollars and Dubai crude oil prices would move around 92-115 US dollars per barrel. (TNA)