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376395
Wed, 08/05/2015 - 13:21
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Thai Central Bank Maintains Policy Rate At 1.5 Per Cent

By Minggu Simon Lhasa BANGKOK, Aug 5 (Bernama) -- Thailand's central bank has maintained its policy interest rate at 1.50 per cent. In a statement issued by the Bank of Thailand, its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Secretary, Mathee Supapongse, announced that the Committee voted unanimously to maintain the policy rate at 1.50 per cent per annum. The key considerations for policy deliberation included the fact that the Thai economy continued to recover gradually in the second quarter, and was expected to maintain similar pace of recovery for the rest of the year, he said. "Nevertheless, the downside risks increased amid a slowdown in the Chinese economy and the adverse impact of domestic drought. "Higher-than-expected improvement in tourism and high investment spending by the government remained the main growth drivers," he said, adding private consumption and investment improved at a measured pace. However, Mathee said the exports of goods contracted more than previously assessed due to subdued prices and reduced volume as a result of lower demand from trading partners, especially China and other Asian economies. Headline inflation continued to stay in the negative territory due mainly to energy costs, he said. "However, it is likely to have bottomed out, and is expected to gradually pick up in the second half of the year as the base effect of high oil prices begins to wane," he added. The MPC would continue to closely monitor domestic price development as the period at which headline inflation was expected to turn positive might be delayed as a result of limited demand-side pressure and slower-than-projected global oil price recovery, he said. In deliberating the monetary policy, the Committee judged that the conduct of monetary policy has thus far eased monetary conditions, while the direction of exchange rate movement has stayed conducive to the economic recovery. Therefore, the policy interest rate should be kept unchanged at this meeting. The Committee was of the view that the monetary policy stance should continue to be adequately accommodative, and will stand ready to utilise an appropriate mix of available policy tools in order to support the economic recovery, while maintaining long-term economic and financial stability. --BERNAMA

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