ID :
146066
Thu, 10/14/2010 - 09:52
Auther :

TCC urges more measures to curb baht surge

BANGKOK, Oct 14 – The Bank of Thailand (BoT), the Ministry of Finance, and other state agencies concerned must take more action to curb the strengthening of the baht, according to Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) honorary chairman Pramon Sutivong.

He said the latest measures imposed by the government should help the baht appreciate more slowly than the currencies of Thailand’s trading rivals.

However, it would not make the baht weaken because the currency appreciation stemmed from the continued foreign capital inflows.

Mr Pramon said he did not know whether the measures would enable affected small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) to adjust properly to the stronger baht.

He noted the ongoing intervention by the Bank of Thailand in the baht movement remains inadequate. The central bank, Finance Ministry, and other agencies concerned should jointly find more measures to rein in the baht surge.

“Exports are likely to grow at a slower pace next year as the baht is believed to continue strengthening. So, more measures should be taken to strengthen SMEs. Additionally, the government should implement the economic restructuring by shifting a strategy to drive the economic growth from dependence on exports to local consumption,” he said.

Narongchai Akrasanee, member of the National Economic and Social Development Board, said measures issued by the Finance Ministry could help ease the strengthening of the baht.

However, the central bank, which has a key role in overseeing the baht movement, should give more importance to containing the currency appreciation because its intervention in recent times remained unable to rein in the baht rise.

Should the central bank want to manage the baht efficiently, it must pay less attention to overseeing the inflation rate and delay the policy interest rate cut at the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee to be held on October 20, said Mr Narongchai. (MCOT online news)

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