With the PM urgently pursuing a cut in the nation’s policy rate by at least 25 basis points, the dollar, euro and pound are set to gain against the baht if his efforts are successful.

From Thai PBS world

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has urged the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to call a special meeting to review its decision to maintain the policy rate at 2.5%, without waiting until its next scheduled meeting on April 10.

In his “X” post on Monday night, the prime minister said that the economic performance figures released by the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) clearly show that the Thai economy is at a critical stage and the NESDC secretary-general agreed that it is time for a review of the policy rate.

Speaking to the media yesterday, following the release of the NESDC report on the Thai economic situation for the fourth quarter of last year, which projects that GDP growth for last year will be just 1.9%, the prime minister said that it is time to cut the policy rate by at least 25 basis points, to 2.25%, which will help ease the financial burden on people.

He said that his position on the policy rate is clear, noting that Thailand’s average GDP growth over the past 10 years has been under 2%, which is lower than its neighbouring countries, and the GDP is likely to shrink further.

He also said that his government is unable to disburse the 2024 national budget until April 1, adding that there is no injection of new money these days and Thailand’s GDP has been revised downward by every economic forecasting institution.

 

From Thai PBS World

Bank of Thailand (BOT) Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput is yielding no ground in his face-off with Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin over the central bank’s interest rate policy.

Against the backdrop of slowing economic growth, Srettha wants the BOT to lower the interest rate from the current 2.5 per cent per annum, the highest in nearly a decade.

The central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has turned a deaf ear to the government’s exhortations and left the rate unchanged at its two previous meetings.

The MPC is scheduled to hold its next meeting in April. Srettha, however, wants the MPC to call an emergency meeting to lower the rate.

His call came after the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), a state think-tank, released a report on the gross domestic product in 2023: GDP grew by only 1.9 per cent, well below expectations and slower than the 2.5 per cent growth in the previous year.

NESDC secretary-general Danucha Pichayanan also urged the central bank to seriously consider a rate cut in order to cushion the blow on citizens from the higher cost of living.

He also wanted the central bank to relax rules on credit card payments, suggesting that the minimum monthly installment payment be reduced from 8 per cent at present to 5 per cent, as the central bank had done during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lowering the credit card installment would offer relief to credit card debtors, Danucha argued.

Continues at

https://www.thaipbsworld.com/will-sethaput-meet-the-fate-of-bot-governors-defying-the-government/

32 minutes ago, reader said:

 Lowering the credit card installment would offer relief to credit card debtors, 

or encourage them to take even more debt