Special meeting called to address baht appreciation

BANGKOK, May 9 (TNA) - The Ministry of Finance will convene representatives of concerned parties, including the Bank of Thailand (BOT) and the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), as well as the private sector early next week to discuss the continual baht appreciation since early this year. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittirat Na-Ranong told journalists, when inaugurating the four-day Money Expo 2013 in Mueang Thong Thani on the outskirts of Bangkok, on Thursday that the meeting will be held on May 13 to discuss cooperation among the parties concerned to keep the value of the Thai baht at an appropriate level to support the competitiveness of the Thai private sector and to be in line with the values of other currencies in the region and those of Thailand's trading partners. Kittirat acknowledged, however, that it is not time for a special measure, as all parties have worked within the scopes of relevant laws. The deputy premier noted that the BOT has measures to be implemented right away to handle the strong baht and the Finance Ministry is ready to support any special measure the central bank considers suitable, suggesting that the BOT take careful and wise actions. The Thai baht value appreciated slightly on Thursday morning to 29.32-29.34 baht a US dollar, from 29.34-29.37 baht a US dollar on Wednesday evening. (TNA)