Bank of Thailand says being on US currency “watchlist” won’t have a “material impact”

Thailand being added to the United States Treasury’s “watchlist” for suspected currency manipulation won’t impact foreign trade and investment too much, the Bank of Thailand says.

Now that Thailand is on the “monitoring list,” US government says it will keep “close attention” on the country’s currency practices to determine if any measures are intended to gain an unfair advantage in foreign trade. Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith says it’s “not a worry at the moment.”

“It’s still a monitoring list and we don’t know what actions they might take. In handling the baht, it should not have any impact as the central bank is taking care of it.”

The Bank of Thailand says there was no intention to use the exchange rate to gain an unfair advantage, the bank’s assistant governor Chantavarn Sucharitakul said in a statement.

“At this stage, the assessment is not expected to have a material impact on Thailand’s international trade, as well as the prospect for foreign direct investment into Thailand. Similarly, such assessment does not impede the ability of the BoT to fulfill its mandate on macroeconomic policies to safeguard domestic stability.”

SOURCE: Reuters

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