Central bank governor worried about low Thai economic growth

BANGKOK, Oct 22 (TNA) -- Bank of Thailand (BoT) governor Veerathai Santiprabhob said on Wednesday that he was worried about the low growth rate of the Thai economy and intended to protect it with monetary policies. During his first interview with reporters after taking office on Oct 1, Mr Veerathai said that the growth rate of the Thai gross domestic product would remain low in the next 2-3 years. He also pointed out that the long-term economic stability could be compromised because low interest rates would prompt people to invest in risky assets while the level of savings was low in the country. He also commented that economic stimulus measures would support the Thai economy next year. He predicted the economic growth rate would stand at 3.6-3.7% in 2016 due to government investment, growing tourism and improved export to the United States. For this year, the GDP growth should be at 2.7%, Mr Veerathai said. What he saw as risk factors for the Thai economy in the future are the uncertainty of the Chinese economy, low commodity prices and fluctuations in the monetary policies of big countries, especially the interest policy of the US. However, the central bank governor viewed that Thai economic fundamentals were strong enough to tolerate increasing interest in the US. He added that the fluctuation of Thai baht was less than that of other currencies. (TNA)