Bright prospect for Thai bond market

BANGKOK, April 10 (TNA) -- The Thai bond market showed a positive tendency in the first quarter of this year as it was growing on foreign investment. Tada Phutthitada, president of the Thai Bond Market Association, said foreign investors were buying Thai bonds in the first three months of this year. Their net purchases amounted to 38 billion baht. The investors made net purchases worth 52 billion baht of long-term government bonds and net sales worth 13.9 billion baht of short-term bonds. At the end of the first quarter, the accumulated foreign investment in Thai bonds stood at 870 billion baht, forming 7.4% of the total value of the Thai bond market. The outstanding value in the first quarter amounted to 11.77 trillion baht, up by 1.8% from the end of 2016. Mr Tada expected the policy rate to remain low at 1.5% until late this year. It was a good opportunity for the government to borrow from local sources for its long-term investment in megaprojects, he said. (TNA)