Economy

PM says Thailand must spend in dollars to weaken the baht

Published

Tuesday, December 3, 2019 08:01

Jack Burton

PHOTO: Bloomberg

“We have to think how we will spend in dollars in many ways to help weaken the baht.”

Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha says the nation should think about ways to spend in US dollars to help weaken Thailand’s booming currency. Speaking in Bangkok the PM said that the private sector also needs to help with the process.

“A current-accounts surplus, capital inflows and high foreign reserves are among the causes of baht strength,” he was quoted in the Bangkok Post.

The comment is a repeat of earlier government calls to increase imports, which require converting baht into dollars, economists say.

Kampon Adireksombat, head of market research at Siam Commercial Bank speculated that the PM may be urging people to spend more by converting baht into dollars.

“He wants people to import more and invest more. If we spend more, we help reduce our trade surplus.”

The baht has risen 8.8% against the dollar during 2019, making it the best performing currency among the world’s emerging markets. The Bank of Thailand relaxed rules on capital outflows in November, its latest effort to slow an appreciation that’s starting to cripple exports and tourism.

Thailand’s National Economic & Social Development Council predicts a final figure of 2.6% GDP growth for 2019, which, if it eventuates, will be the lowest in five years.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

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Jack Burton

Jack Burton is an American writer, broadcaster, linguist and journalist who has lived in Asia since 1987. A native of the state of Georgia, he attended the The University of Georgia's Henry Grady School of Journalism, which hands out journalism's prestigious Peabody Awards. His works have appeared in The China Post, The South China Morning Post, The International Herald Tribune and many magazines throughout Asia and the world. He is fluent in Mandarin and has appeared on television and radio for decades in Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

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