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Post by Fletchsmile on Sept 16, 2015 15:08:22 GMT 7
The Thai Monetary Policy Committee today voted unanimously to maintain the policy rate at 1.5% pa
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Post by Fletchsmile on Sept 16, 2015 15:31:11 GMT 7
Official BOT text
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No. 46/2015
Monetary Policy Committee’s Decision on 16 September 2015
Mr. Mathee Supapongse, Secretary of the Monetary Policy Committee, announced the outcome of the meeting on 16 September 2015 as follows.
The Committee voted unanimously to maintain the policy rate at 1.50 percent.
Key considerations for policy deliberation are as follows.
From the second quarter to July 2015, the Thai economy gradually recovered. Private sector confidence and spending have been weighed down by continued contraction in exports of goods, a result of a slowdown in the Chinese and other Asian economies, as well as sluggish household income. Nevertheless, continued improvement in tourism and accelerated disbursements of public investment expenditure have been the main drivers for the economy. Moreover, the recently announced fiscal stimulus measures should provide some additional support.
Inflationary pressure declined due mainly to lower-than-expected oil prices. Consequently, headline inflation is projected to stay in negative territory for the rest of 2015, before turning positive in the first quarter of 2016, later than previously assessed. Meanwhile, deflationary risks remain contained as core inflation is positive, reflecting that prices of most non-energy items have been stable or trended upwards. Furthermore, inflation expectations stay close to the inflation target.
Under the Committee’s assessment, the Thai economy continues to face negative factors, particularly a slowing global economy and higher volatility in the global financial markets. However, monetary conditions, including exchange rate development, remain supportive to the economic recovery.
Against this backdrop, the Committee decided to maintain the policy rate at this meeting. Looking forward, monetary policy stance should continue to be sufficiently accommodative. The Committee stands ready to utilize an appropriate mix of available policy tools in order to support the economic recovery, while ensuring financial stability.
Bank of Thailand
16 September 2015
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Post by Fletchsmile on Sept 17, 2015 8:42:43 GMT 7
MPC maintains policy rate, slashes growth outlook Published: 17/09/2015 at 03:47 AM Newspaper section: Business The Bank of Thailand's rate-setting committee kept the policy rate unchanged yesterday, but affirmed this year's economic growth will come in below 3% despite a flurry of recent government stimulus measures. Risks associated with foreign economies, particularly China's economic slowdown, have increased and Asean economies will be affected, said Mathee Supapongse, secretary of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and assistant governor for monetary policy. "We have to assess the reasons behind China's slowdown and how it will affect us," he said. "The relaxed monetary policy supports an economic recovery, while the government's new stimulus measures can help to sustain the economy to a certain degree. The assessment result will be announced later." The central bank will announce its new economic growth forecasts for this year and next on Sept 25. It slashed its GDP growth forecast to 3% at midyear from 3.8% in March, predicting exports would shrink by 1.5%. The government's stimulus measures could increase swelling household debt to a certain extent, but households would obtain greater liquidity through a fiscal injection, and long-term debt problems are not expected since the government has set conditions for some of these measures to be directed towards spurring investments, Mr Mathee said. The MPC voted unanimously to maintain its 1.5% policy interest rate, saying the foreign exchange rate was accommodative to the economic rebound. "Monetary conditions including exchange rate development remain supportive to the economic recovery," the committee said in a statement. The weaker baht should help Thailand's recovery, although foreign exchange is not as great a factor in influencing private investment as return on investment and a surplus in production capacity in certain sectors, Mr Mathee added. Santitarn Sathirathai, Credit Suisse's head of economic research for Southeast Asia and India, said his firm suspected uncertainty over this week's decision by the US Federal Reserve may have played a role in the MPC staying put. Another 25-basis-point cut by the MPC later this year remains a possibility, as the central bank may have underestimated downside risks to growth. "We believe there is a good chance GDP will undershoot the consensus estimates of 2.9% in 2015 and 3.6% in 2016," he said. www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/696112/mpc-maintains-policy-rate-slashes-growth-outlook |
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Jan 4, 2023 21:15:53 GMT 7
Jan 4, 2023 21:15:53 GMT 7
