BOT to timely introduce measures to take care of baht

BANGKOK, April 25 (TNA) - The Bank of Thailand (BOT) says that it will introduce measures at an appropriate time to take care of the baht, which has appreciated by 6.28 per cent since early this year making the Thai currency now stands the strongest in the region. BOT Assistant Governor For Financial Market Chantawan Sucharitkul on Wednesday assured the BOT's policy on timely actions to take care of the Thai baht, acknowledging that each action or measure has side effects or impacts in the long run and needs to be carefully considered before its implementation. Chantawan noted that the BOT has closely monitored the situation of the domestic and the global currency markets and found that other Asian currencies have strengthened since last year, but the Thai baht has appreciated since early this year. According to the BOT assistant governor, the Thai baht has, however, become the strongest in the region since early 2013, as it has appreciated by 6.28 per cent, from 30.55 baht a US dollar to about 28.82 baht a US dollar now, cushioned by strong fundamentals of the Thai economy and international investors’ confidence in the national economy. The BOT assistant governor pointed out that neighbouring countries in the region have been each affected by negative factors, resulting in the depreciation of their currencies lately, and that Indonesia, for instance, has now experienced current account and budget deficits leading to the weakening Indonesian rupiah by about one per cent; while the Philippine peso, the South Korean won, the Singapore dollar and the Malaysian ringgit have weakened by 0.63 per cent, 4.28 per cent, 1.44 per cent and 0.16 per cent respectively. (TNA)