BOT:Thai baht is now in line with national economic growth

BANGKOK, October 20 (TNA) - The Bank of Thailand (BOT) says that the Thai baht has moved in line with other currencies in the region and national economic growth since the beginning of the third quarter of this year. BOT Governor Dr. ​Veerathai Santiprabhob told journalists of the updated trend on October 19, noting that the Thai baht was earlier stronger than other currencies in the region. Dr. ​Veerathai pointed out that Thailand's growing economy and foreign direct investment (FDI) have aligned the Thai baht to a more appropriate level currently, while the country's inflation should stand at around 1.4 per cent until next year. The BOT governor revealed, meanwhile, that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast that the world economy should now grow 3.6 per cent and 3.7 per cent in 2017 and 2018 respectively, which should further boost Thailand's external trade and exports. The BOT governor cautioned, however, that there are remaining risk factors for the expanding Thai exports, including a rising trend of key interest rates and the trade protectionist policy in major countries, as well as impacts from the economic and financial restructuring in China, inter-country conflicts and a possible problem of financial cyber jeopardy. According to the BOT chief, IMF and the World Bank also warned at its joint annual meeting 2017 in Washington during October 13-15 that international investors' increased investment in debt instruments with the lower rating status of BBB, from 25 per cent earlier to 45-50 per cent currently, is a matter of concern to a certain extent that needs to be curbed to prevent either a fresh regional or global financial crisis in the future. (TNA)