BOT:Special measures remain unnecessary

BANGKOK, December 16 (TNA) - The Bank of Thailand (BOT) sees it is unnecessary to introduce any special measure for the time being despite the weakening Thai currency, as capital outflows remain normal. BOT Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul announced the stance on Tuesday, insisting that the Thai baht has moved in accordance with other currencies in the region and its fluctuation remains moderate. Prasarn also viewed that falling world oil prices currently should have only short-term impacts, while the Thai economy should benefit in the medium term because the declining world oil prices help reduce production costs in Thailand, an oil-importing country. Besides, the BOT chief assessed that the severe depreciation of ruble lately, after Russia raised its key interest rate, should not have any direct negative impact on Thailand, as the Russian currency is not an international one and the Russian money market is not mainly connected with global markets, but arrivals of Russian tourists in Thailand should decline as an indirect impact. Meanwhile, the Thai baht opened at 32.95-32.96 baht a US dollar on the domestic currency market on Tuesday morning, after it closed at 32.97-32.99 baht a US dollar on Monday evening. Concerned parties are, thus, monitoring updates at the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and waiting for a decision to be announced after the next meeting of the BOT's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on December 17. (TNA)