Thailand not affected from ECB boosting QE

BANGKOK, March 12 (TNA) -- Thailand’s Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong has said the kingdom is not affected from the decision by the European Central Bank (ECB) to increase quantitative easing (QE)programme. Mr Apisak said Friday, one day after the ECB made the announcement, that Thailand would not be impacted because the government is monitoring on finance and also reducing tariffs to create competition. The Bank of Thailand is also overseeing monetary policy efficiently while interest rates are at an appropriate level and the Thai baht has strengthened to 35.21 baht against the dollar which is strongest in the past seven months, he said. The baht remains strong in line with other currencies in the region, Mr Apisak added. In an attempt to kickstart economy in the Eurozone, the ECB said it is cutting its main refinancing operations rate for the Euro zone by 5 basis points to a record low of zero per cent. Also, it lowered the rate on its marginal lending facility to 0.25 per cent from 0.30 per cent and on the deposit facility to minus 0.40 per cent from minus 0.30 per cent. It also announced that it would expand the volume of bonds it purchases each month under its QE programme to 80 billion euros from 60 billion euros. (TNA)