Minister of Finance, Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, on Monday, said that the current Thai baht rate, after falling by over 4% against the US dollar since mid-February, was ‘appropriate’ as he signalled that the key goal for the country now was economic growth. It comes as the United States begins to raise interest rates with Thai fiscal policy predicted to remain weak for the foreseeable future, at least until early 2023.

 

by Joseph O' Connor

 

Top university boss predicts that, technically, Thailand has already entered into a period of 1970s stagflation as he lowered the economic growth projection for the country to between 2% and 3% for the year with inflation running at 5%. At the same time, a lower baht was heralded by Minister of Finance, Arkhom Termpittayapaisithm, this week, as he predicted that the kingdom will ease entry criteria to boost foreign tourism while achieving export growth of between 5% and 6% in 2022.

 

 

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Thailand’s economic team in government is adopting a wait and see approach to the current crisis caused by the war between Russia and Ukraine with the Minister of Finance, Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, suggesting on Monday that economic growth, at this point, takes precedence over curbing inflation, in a signal to the central bank. This leaves the route open to a weakening baht which may boost export competitiveness and tourism receipts in the short term while the government estimates that the threat of inflation will recede over the course of the year particularly if the war in Ukraine is brought to a close.

 

Thailand’s Minister of Finance, on Monday, appeared to urge the Bank of Thailand not to raise interest rates at the Monetary Policy Committee on Wednesday and to give priority to economic growth over the central bank’s fiduciary duty to maintain price stability and hold inflation in check.

 

Full story: https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news-foreigners/2022/03/29/thai-planners-ready-to-let-the-baht-swing/

 

-- © Copyright Thai Examiner 2022-03-30

 

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When is dollar going to be 40 baht. Will transfer a million baht to keep a reserve in Thailand. 

as a primary exporter which also includes tourism even though tourism happens in Thailand it is still an export because it involves foreign currency paying for goods

 

The hiso's the rich the theives want a strong baht because they invest and launder money abroad which is not good for Thailand which relies on export and tourism, there is a sniff of very serious domestic issues going forward, perhaps extreme social unrest and violence, the OP to me seems like a last ditch attempt to boost the baht before the doo doo hits the fan, this country IMO has been on the boil for a long time, it won't take much to set it off, there is anger which has been building for months - maybe Prayuth will write and sing a new ballad for the poor people who could never ever understand all those 000,000,000,000,00 if he actually had to show his bank balance and how it has grown since he was in office - Roman Abramovich would be proud........and the rest

42 minutes ago, CartagenaWarlock said:

When is dollar going to be 40 baht. Will transfer a million baht to keep a reserve in Thailand. 

after this OP statement the baht is about to be heavily manipulated up, won't last long then it will drop like a lead balloon - don't take my word for it - JMO reading between the lines

" Just a SWINGIN' "

 

14 minutes ago, smedly said:

don't take my word for it -

Thank you. I don't or for anything else.

The baht is certainly down.

I got 25 baht for an Australian dollar over the counter  at an exchange yesterday for the first time since late 2017 !

 But of course I still yearn for the days I got a casual 28 to 29 when I first arrived in 2008 !

Speculators love it when governments make statements like this. They see volatility as a great way to speculate on wild swings. At least I do going forward. I don’t care which way it swings 

just remember the trend is your friend. 

So long as it swings LOW, so that we can board our sweet chariots from various parts of the world to shop once more at Tesco Lotus...

Would you folks stop saying baht up and down. It confuses context. Instead say baht  appreciated or baht devalued 

Well, the Baht didn’t listen. Yesterday it rose 29 Satang (nearly 1%) on the USD.  And Euro and Pound fell in sympathy, although not as much.

Edited March 29, 20224 yr by Isaan sailor

Speculation and stories like this always make the baht infortunately stronger. It's part of the manipulation game they play.....

With an up-coming election on the cards it's amazing what can happen.

50 minutes ago, blazes said:

So long as it swings LOW, so that we can board our sweet chariots from various parts of the world to shop once more at Tesco Lotus...

Yes, keep it low and remember the sky will be black with Backpackers coming our way if you do.

UK  £ continues to slip again. Baht needs a serious decline or it will be yet another reason the tourists aint coming. Inly the flaming russian rouble seems to be bucking the trend against the teflon currency

40 minutes ago, morrobay said:

Would you folks stop saying baht up and down. It confuses context. Instead say baht  appreciated or baht devalued 

False.  In economic terms the opposite of devaluation is revaluation.

But, who cares on here I think most people get it.

4 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

UK  £ continues to slip again. Baht needs a serious decline or it will be yet another reason the tourists aint coming. Inly the flaming russian rouble seems to be bucking the trend against the teflon currency

If you mean particularly in the last 7-8 days that is simply reflecting that Sterling is losing value against the USD.  

Edited March 30, 20224 yr by jacko45k

10 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

UK  £ continues to slip again. Baht needs a serious decline or it will be yet another reason the tourists aint coming. Inly the flaming russian rouble seems to be bucking the trend against the teflon currency

Rouble up—Dollar down.  Sure looks like manipulation.  I wonder if China has anything to say about this…

Edited March 30, 20224 yr by Isaan sailor

3 hours ago, morrobay said:

Would you folks stop saying baht up and down. It confuses context. Instead say baht  appreciated or baht devalued 

 for technical discussions it's necessary to be specific.

Appreciation and depreciation are the best terms to use.

1 hour ago, morrobay said:

Would you folks stop saying baht up and down. It confuses context. Instead say baht  appreciated or baht devalued 

Up = appreciated, down = devalued, hope this helps ????????

I foresee it swinging stronger again as soon as those get wind it is weakening the pressure is put to reverse the direction. ????

Just now, Swampy999 said:

Up = appreciated, down = devalued, hope this helps ????????

No, it doesn't. It's all relative. One man's up is another's down, same for loss and gain.

 

When the baht changes from 33/$ to 31/$ did it go up or down? You would be correct if your definition was universal, but it isn't. Why use such ambiguous terms when precise ones are available?

When the listener has to do mental gymnastics to infer your meaning it leads to needless misunderstanding. Clarity is always appreciated.

12 minutes ago, Swampy999 said:

Up = appreciated, down = devalued, hope this helps ????????

Relative to what...USD would be what we expect. 

 

The Baht's fluctuation in its current manipulated state indicates a problem exists for those on the lower end of the food chain.  Then add in the Inflation or stagflation this country is seeing and like everything else an implosion is going to be felt, but by whom.

2 hours ago, smedly said:

after this OP statement the baht is about to be heavily manipulated up, won't last long then it will drop like a lead balloon - don't take my word for it - JMO reading between the lines

And also it indicates what many of us have been telling people, which the Thai apologists have been denying all along, that the baht will continue to be manipulated as has been the case the last few years.

£1 = -43.929927 I only believe this ????

2 hours ago, Isaan sailor said:

Well, the Baht didn’t listen. Yesterday it rose 29 Satang (nearly 1%) on the USD.  And Euro and Pound fell in sympathy, although not as much.

I cannot fathom out why the baht would appreciate as it has done over the last 2 Days or so.

Due to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, Thailand is going to be one of the Countries that will be hit really hard when all the futures of Raw Materials take effect maybe next Month.

Raw material Commodities costs, such as Oil, Gas and Nickel Etc along with other Commodities such as Wheat and Fertiliser, are going to hit the Economy hard in the Export Sector and Agri Sector.

The only reason that springs to mind is the Forex speculators hedging for a quick profit.

 

1 hour ago, RocketDog said:

No, it doesn't. It's all relative. One man's up is another's down, same for loss and gain.

 

When the baht changes from 33/$ to 31/$ did it go up or down? You would be correct if your definition was universal, but it isn't. Why use such ambiguous terms when precise ones are available?

When the listener has to do mental gymnastics to infer your meaning it leads to needless misunderstanding. Clarity is always appreciated.

Strengthened or weakened acceptable ?

That is the term used often that  I have seen .

10 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

 

 

The Baht on the other hand is manipulated 

Sure it is for the benefit of those buying property in other countries etc.  But exactly in what ways is this done and by who?

The Thai baht under the current government has always been manipulated nothing is going to change if they can avoid it until one day it’s going to come crashing down around them they’ll be printing baht notes as if there’s no tomorrow